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€GEH?IGHT DEPOSIT 




LUCELIA A. LOVEJOY 



Beyond The River 



BY 

LUCELIA A. LOVEJOY 



Thru the hand of 

J. D. 



Edited and Published by 

LEWIS PETERSON 
410 S. 4th St. EFFINGHAM, ILL. 






Copyrighted 191 8 by 
LEWIS PETERSON 



All rights reserved 



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tolya lyaa* fattljfttUg laboreb to itH Baraaa 

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CONTENTS 

LETTER PAGE 

Frontispiece. 

Introduction 7 

Foreword 25 

1 From Flesh to Spirit 27 

2 Knowledge Is Power 32 

3 The Work of Philip Carlisle 40 

4 Among the Ruins 48 

5 Watchman, What of the Night ? 57 

6 Among the Poets , 66 

7 What Is Home Without a Mother? 73 

8 When You Come Home 77 

9 Heaven a Home for the Homeless. . , 85 

10 Friends Even in Death 93 

11 At the Temple of Art 102 

12 Our Purpose 110 




INTRODUCTION 

The Picture 

HE following momentous events had their incep- 
tion in the year 1882, A. D. Feeling impelled so 
to do, I wrote an article which, to my surprise, 
was published in the Progressive Thinker, a beacon of light 
published at Chicago, 111. A short time after its publica- 
tion, I received a letter from a person residing at Carthage, 
Mo., who manifested much interest in the subject, and 
requested further light on some points. This I promptly 
furnished, expecting that to terminate our correspondence. 
He was at that time practicing the healing art by the "lay- 
ing on of hands" and manipulation. That letter was 
signed, Dr. Anderson. 

To my surprise, he again wrote, expressing his thanks, 
then imparting this revelation : 

"By the way, there is a beautiful spirit, a lady, comes 
with your letter, who manifests much interest in you. If 
there is a good medium in your city, find out who she is. 
If a guide, let us know, and we will take her likeness as a 
gift from her and us. 

(Signed) Wella P. Anderson, Spirit Artist." 

Seeing that name, I knew that I was face to face with 
real phenomena. Sometime previous to this, by merest 
chance, I picked up a book, which proved to be a short 
biography of some of the older mediums and their work. 



8 BEYOND THE RIVER 

On the page at which I opened that book was the copy of 
a beautifully executed pencil drawing of a spirit being by 
this noted spirit artist. It stated that he did that kind of 
work while under full trance, in a perfectly dark closet, 
the materials used being Faber's lead pencils, Nos. I and 
2, etc. Such is the process by which the picture sent me 
was taken and from which the frontispiece is a copy. 
While the proportions of this picture are faulty, the 
artistic execution cannot be denied. It is hardly neces- 
sary to state that the entranced human organism is an 
unwieldly instrument for so delicate a work. 

At that time I thought it strange, since he manifested 
no doubt of being able to take her likeness, that he should 
ask me to find out who she was ; but we must remember 
that he was only the entranced instrument in this wonder- 
ful work. I informed him that there was no sensitive in 
our city capable of giving the desired information, and 
requested him to see what he could get. The answer came 
promptly, in part as follows : 

"Yes, she again comes with your letter, bright and 
beautiful as a dream. It is well that you do not see her, 
or you might feel like the boy who cried : 'I want to go 
home !' When conditions are right, we will take her like- 
ness, as a gift from her and us. We take it in order to 
cause two souls to rejoice, and two hearts to beat as one. 
There will be no charges, and no feelings of obligation in 
any way." (She explains in Letter 4 as to how he was 
enabled to see her.) 

In describing her, he said : 

"She appears to be about twenty- four years of age (see 
confirmation of that in Letter 5), and when you see her 
likeness, you must compare it as with the block of marble 
alongside of the finished statue. It is impossible to portray 
angelic loveliness on paper." 



INTRODUCTION 9 

THE POEM (in part) 

You ask for the name of your beautiful guide 

Who comes arrayed in white, 
With glittering sparks all over her dress 

That twinkle like stars in the night. 

You ask why she is with you, 

And you wonder if she is going to stay; 

Well, it takes two halves of an apple 
To make a whole apple, they say. 

Substance and shadow are always together 

All over this world so wide; 
You never see one without the other, 

And so with you and your guide. 

I lost no time in letting him know that such a present 
would be regarded as a gift of gifts. 

Many obstacles came in his way, so that about seven 
years elapsed, but the picture finally came as a New 
Year's gift for the year 1900. 

I freely confess that, should I have had to bargain for 
it and pay the regular price, which at that time was high 
for that class of work, I should in all probability have 
regarded it in the light of a commercial transaction only. 
But coming from a total stranger, except for our corre- 
spondence, unexpected and unasked for, absolutely free 
of cost to me, for even the express charges were prepaid, 
leaves it wholly free from any taint of commercialism, and 
as there can be no effect without an adequate cause, I shall 
accept it fully as bona fide. As for the upturned eyes, the 
inference is so plain that I will let them speak for them- 
selves. 

The Letters 

About six years after the receipt of the picture, I visited 
a medium thru whose vocal organs the author of the let- 



10 BEYOND THE RIVER 

ters, but previous to that time, had spoken to me, and 
also the place where I discovered the book which gave 
me the first knowledge of Wella P. Anderson and his 
wonderful mediumship. When seeing me, she exclaimed : 

"Oh, Mr. Peterson ! Why didn't you come five minutes 
sooner ? A young man has just left that you must be sure 
to meet. But never mind, he will call again, and then I 
will arrange a meeting." 

In a short time we heard a knock on the door, and when 
it was opened, there he stood. On seeing him she again 
exclaimed : 

"Why, what brings you back so soon ?". 

Looking at us earnestly, he replied : 

"I don't know ; I had to come." 

On his first visit he passed four doors, and felt impelled 
to stop at this one, which was the fifth from the entrance 
to the second floor. 

For reasons to me at that time unknown, I felt strangely 
drawn to that young man. I wanted to fold my arms 
around and protect him from himself and the whole world 
— an impossible task, for he was in the all-knowing age. 

The unseen forces, however, did their part, so that we 
spent a portion of the following winter in California, and 
thirty days of that time in the Peterselia summer cottage 
at Long Beach. 

When we were comfortably settled there, he asked for 
pencil and paper, but surprised me by wanting paper of a 
certain color, which could only be had in manuscript 
tablet size. When I placed these materials on the table, 
he sat down and began to write very rapidly, tore off the 
sheets, and flung them on the floor. Thinking that he was 
writing letters to friends, and fearing that the sheets were 
getting mixed, I picked up and numbered them. The writ- 
ing continued till I had fifteen or more closely written 



INTRODUCTION II 

pages. Watching him closely, I noticed that his face was 
flushed, causing a tired look to appear, and then first did 
it dawn upon me as to what was going on. Deeming it 
time to interfere, I asked if he hadn't better rest a while. 
Hearing my voice, he pulled himself together, rubbed his 
eyes, and said : 

"Yes, perhaps I had." 

I then remarked that he was a very long letter writer, 
and asked what the story was about. To my surprise, he 
said : 

"I don't know !" 

"You don't know ! Could you have written all this and 
not know what it is?" 

"I don't know what has been written. Read the stuff, 
and let us find out what it is." 

After the reading, I put it in a drawer, got him out into 
the sun, and down to the seashore. The next day, and for 
several days in succession, the same performance was 
repeated, until we had a manuscript of about one hundred 
and thirty-five pages, using about one hour of time each 
day. But to my certain knowledge, not a single time did 
he ever examine what had previously been written in 
order to refresh his memory. The closing of the work 
developed another surprise, and a supremely gratifying 
revelation, for the living soul, who succeeded in giving 
her likeness to me, subscribed her name to the manuscript 
as its author. And thus did she also succeed in getting the 
letters into my hands. (It must be remembered that he 
had never seen the picture, and knew nothing of the inci- 
dents connected therewith.) 

The medium took very little interest in the writing. The 
subject did not interest him at all. When I spoke of life 
beyond the grave, he seemed to regard me as several de- 
grees out of balance, as he remarked ; 



12 BEYOND THE RIVER 

"There is no life beyond the grave. When we die, that's 
the end." 

As the subject matter was the exact opposite to his 
belief, we are forced to conclude that his mentality did not 
dictate the writing of the letters. And thus, thru the hand 
of a comparative stranger, were events in my life made 
clear, which, up to that time, had been a puzzle to me. 

Now, having told by what means the picture and the 
letters came into my hands, I could terminate the part 
assigned me in this work. But, I do not feel at liberty so 
to do, yet. The world is spiritually hungry; hungry for 
the answer to Job's question: "If we die, shall we live 
again?" I must, therefore, not be a shirker, but bravely 
do my part. 

Wella P. Anderson was one of earth's real noblemen. 
His unselfish soul and willing hand made it possible for 
this picture to be produced, and the same remarks will 
apply regarding the letters. The spirit artist was called to 
higher duties over ten years ago. The automatic hand is 
still imprisoned in flesh, thru which we hope to reap other 
golden truths for man's enlightenment. 

Thru this automatic hand, Wella P. Anderson succeeded 
in wafting across the mystic barrier one message for me. 
Yea, even from that bourne they have so persistently told 
us that "no traveler ever returns." But let us see. The 
following incidents will, I think, at least furnish food for 
thought. 

About three months after my brother's demise, I went 
to Eureka, Calif., to meet our medium, in hopes of get- 
ting something of value to the world. But having to 
scramble for a living, which is most destructive to the 
delicately sensitive state necessary to respond to the higher 
vibrations, my trip came near being a failure. The unex- 
pected happened, however, for Lucelia wrote a welcome 



INTRODUCTION 



J 3 



letter from my brother. I cannot refrain from saying 
that I considered him an exceptional specimen of 
humanity ; now proven true by his ability to reach the high 
plane where she and our parents dwell. So she wrote: 

"Having known your parents a long time, and being 
aware of the new arrival, I concluded to visit them, and 
also to learn how he liked the new world in which he found 
himself. He knew me by the picture he had seen. When 
he saw me, his face lit up with joy, and greeting me most 
cordially, he said: 'You come very near being like the 
picture, or the picture like you.' 

"I asked how he had, so far, found things to his liking, 
and he said that he was agreeably surprised, but not as 
much so as he would have been had he not read our de- 
scription of his parents'' home. Said he : 

" 'It is wonderful how familiar your letters made this 
valley to me. ... I could be well pleased, but they, 
that is, my friends, have me located in different places. 
Some fear that I found not my Saviour in the days of my 
youth, and consequently, well, they judge not. Then there 
are others who think it is not practical to live, after we are 
dead. So, I will follow in the footsteps of my father, 
and with the exception of a payment of the natural love 
debt due to Mary and my brother, I will try to make 
myself comfortable here, as per request.' [When alone 
with him a few days before the change, I made exactly 
such a request.] 

" 'To be sure, I will not remain idle very long before we 
will begin to prepare for the building of our new home. 

" 'My friends were all about me, and I realized their 
emotions. Then I suddenly became aware of the presence 
of others, whom I heretofore had not seen. I tried to 
convey this information, but know not if they understood. 



i 4 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



I wish I did ! [He tried so hard for a few moments, but 
the power to articulate was gone.] Then, as I was trying 
to tell the glad news, I suddenly realized myself to be 
separate from my body, hovering above it, between father 
and sister, whom I immediately recognized. The woe of 
the situation dawned upon me. Our earthly ignorance 
appalled me. 

" 'They looked upon the clay, referring to it as he. They 
should have known better ! Too bad that we do not see 
the spirit, and understand the subject properly. I could 
not bear the sight of earthly suffering, neither could I 
speak, nor make myself known. So, I just gave up, and 
away we went. What followed, I do not recollect, nor 
until I found myself at our parents' home did I seem to 
give the matter further attention. Here I seemed to be no 
stranger. They knew all about me/ 

"But memory soon revived. The pull of earth took 
hold and there followed a space of sympathetic misery 
that made this land of joy a place of sorrow. 

" 'You might call their attention to the eight-foot boards 
and the pickets we split, and by that they will know that 
this message is all right, as the medium knows nothing 
of the especial things and incidents mentioned/ [He 
had never met my brother. The boards and pickets 
were split in an isolated place, by us two, absolutely 
unknown to the medium and forgotten by me at the time 
of writing.] 

"He requested me to write thru the hand of our in- 
strument his unqualified appreciation of the truth mani- 
fested in our work, and to speak a word of comfort to the 
one he left. To say that he would be with her to com- 
fort and to strengthen. He wants her to look forward 
with hope to the final reunion. 

"Like all the rest who come from the earth, he came 



INTRODUCTION 15 

both naked and bare ; he can here have whatever his heart 
desires, according to his ability to use. 

" 'The earth is God's and the fulness thereof/ says the 
Bible. We say : The earth is ours, and the fulness there- 
of.' It is for humanity to use, that all may be supplied. 
We hold the spiritual earth for our spiritual needs. All 
can take and use freely, to the extent of their ability and 
desire." 

In justice to us, I wish to say that we did know better. 
But such are trying times, and even tho we feel sure of 
knowing that the separation is only for a span, we are as 
yet an embodiment of ancient mental training which con- 
fines the mind to matter. Instead of being schooled to the 
joy of their liberation, we grieve at the loss of the physical 
companionship. To alleviate that sorrow, and to show 
the brighter side, is the aim and hope of this work. 

Later on, Lucelia favored me with a description of the 
new home brother spoke of preparing, as follows : 

"He stood at the entrance of a rustic gate, that bore all 
the marks of recent construction, his arms resting on a 
post, as I came up. This rustic fence divides a handsome 
garden from the main road. A pebble strewn path leads 
to a vine-embowered cottage, just beyond the garden. At 
the rear of this there is a strip of woodland, and still 
farther back, the stream that flows past his parents' home 
babbles musically. The stream makes a bend here, and the 
road cuts across the country for a short distance, leaving 
a peninsula-like arm of land. This arm is fenced off, 
chiefly for artistic effect, and here he has built his home. 
Here he dwells with his daughter, and his sister has also 
taken up her abode with him, altho that will not be for 
any great length of time, as she is about to make a change 
of location in accordance with the requirements of her 
education." 



l6 BEYOND THE RIVER 

The following incidents also transpired during the un- 
folding of this drama in my life, and can hardly be 
omitted : 

Being at Los Angeles, and having the medium with me, 
I felt a desire to again visit the Petersilea home. Taking 
the Glendale car, we got there about eleven o'clock a. m. 
and met with a hearty reception. After an hour of pleas- 
ant conversation, we arose to take leave, but no. We were 
pressed to remain for lunch. In a reasonable time there- 
after we attempted to depart, but again no. Said she : 

"I wish you to spend the night here. You will find the 
room upstairs just as you left it." 

When time to retire, I took the lamp (there were no 
electric lights at that time) and started for the stairs, the 
medium going on ahead. On entering the door, which 
was open, he gave a jump and a kick, exclaiming, "Get out 
of here." Surprised, I asked for an explanation, and he 
said: 

"There was a man standing in the center of the room, 
and I want him to get out." 

Asking whether it did so, he answered : 

"Yes, he went into that room and out of the window." 
(The dressing room was lighted by a window over the 
front porch.) 

When comfortably settled in bed, raps began to drum 
on the headboard. Being tired and sleepy, he ordered the 
performance none too politely to cease. The request was 
respected for a few moments, when again it started. From 
the bed to the wall, then to the ceiling, and from there to a 
lot of books in the further corner, it moved. The books, 
being done up in brown wrappers, which had become dry, 
the rustling was very lively. 

After a time he passed into a semi-conscious state, and 
then with a determined effort began to use his vocal organs. 



INTRODUCTION 



17 



Soon, words were laboriously stuttered out in the Norse 
language, clear enough for me to understand. I answered 
mentally, in the same language, which was readily under- 
stood. (The medium does not speak that language.) 

EXPLANATION 

I was brought to Chicago at the age of eleven years. 
Our parents being of the Lutheran faith, mother took me 
and brother with her to the Lutheran Church, presided 
over by the Rev. Pastor Peterson. Confirmation being a 
part of the formula of that church, Pastor Peterson put 
us thru that ceremony. The influence that tried so persist- 
ently to identify itself that night proved to my entire sat- 
isfaction to be that selfsame Pastor Peterson. 

As these personal experiences seem to be interwoven 
with this work, I must explain how I came to visit the 
Petersilea home the first time. 

I do not remember how long it was after his demise 
that I received a letter from our medium (we were living 
in different States at the time) containing a message from 
Prof. Petersilea imploring me to hasten to his wife, as she 
was contemplating suicide. Instinctively feeling the force 
of the message, I lost no time in starting, as it takes sev- 
eral days to reach Los Angeles from Seattle, leaving my 
friends to believe that I went to seek bodily health only. 

While speeding south, I cudgeled my brain as to how I 
should introduce myself. I had an instinctive feeling that 
the use of the simple truth would have rendered my trip 
abortive. She would have regarded the statement that I 
came at his request simply as a subterfuge to gain admis- 
sion, and shut the door in my face. Having arranged that 
in my mind, the next task was to find their home. 

When presenting myself, I discovered her to be of a 
very cautious and reserved nature, so that she opened the 



18 BEYOND THE RIVER 

door just enough to permit us to converse. But in a short 
time she flung the door wide open, and I received a hearty 
welcome. As I sat at dusk of the evening, listening, while 
she was bemoaning her sad fate, she said : 

"I have had twenty-five years of happiness. But it is 
all over now. He is forever gone. I shall never see him 
again, and I want to drown myself to end it all." 

A startling admission of the genuineness of the message, 
even to me, who had put full faith therein. Like all the 
best mediums for mental phenomena that it has been my 
pleasure to meet, when not supported by higher forces she 
sank down into the depths of materialism, and was unable 
to see any further than the grave. I did not dare to leave 
her, neither could I console her in the slightest degree, and 
my task proved to be anything but a bed of roses. 

When we became better acquainted, I did attempt to 
hold out hope that the separation would not be for very 
long, when her eyes took on a new light, and I saw that 
she was being overshadowed. Soon she faced me, ex- 
tended her hand, and in a masculine voice said : 

"Good evening, Brother Peterson. We extend you a 
welcome to our home. We have been a very interested 
listener to the consolation you have been trying to impart 
to our dear one. But we must caution you to use care. 
She is much the best instrument for us the way she is, 
mentally." 

That is a great truth of which I was well aware. It is 
the best proof we have that their own mentality does not 
enter into their work. I am at liberty to reveal these 
events now. She has rejoined her mate, on a plane of 
expression where it is safe to speak the truth, and where 
the untruthful cannot enter. I have received more than 
one message from both, in which he expresses his grati- 
tude for the service I rendered, and she her surprise at 



INTRODUCTION 19 

how well I understood the nature of their work and its 
value to a misguided world. 

After leaving their home we exchanged letters, and later 
on she wrote : 

"I have been rather despondent of late, and must tell you 
that Carlisle came yesterday and said that there was a 
letter in the mail from you ; also describing its contents. 
Then said I to myself, 'Hallucination at work again !' But 
sure enough, the letter was there, and his statement proved 
true in every way." 

And so, in a way, we are indeed "our brother's keeper." 
When humanity becomes humane, it will realize that the 
sweetest satisfaction can only be gained thru unselfish 
service. 

In my dealings with sensitives, I never seek material 
advice. The pure in spirit, being liberated from and 
wafted out beyond the confines of crude matter, and hav- 
ing as many problems before them to solve as we, they 
have neither the time nor the ability to aid us in our indi- 
vidual material affairs. But they do have time, and it is 
a part of their duty, to strive to enlighten us spiritually, so 
that we may awaken to the wonderful possibilities of the 
powers of the soul. That was the object St. Paul had in 
mind when he wrote : 

"There are divers gifts, but the same spirits" (soul pow- 
ers), and "with regard to spiritual things, brethren, I 
would not have ye ignorant." 

Indeed not. It is high time that humanity took up the 
study of self, for the physical frame is not us. Such 
knowledge would help to banish the monster, Superstition, 
and fit us to establish heavenly conditions on earth. But 
unless we are clairvoyant or clearaudient, or otherwise 
sensitive to their approach, those ethereal beings can only 
reach us by mental impressions, and the mind, well, we 



20 BEYOND THE RIVER 

call it our mind, and let it go at that. If wc would pay 
careful heed to the voice within, soul promptings, it would 
become the guide of guides. 

The mental phase, phenomena of mind, is treated of in 
the letters. And there is another phase called physical 
phenomena, also spoken of. 

It is self-evident that the coarser substances in nature 
form the lower stratas ; a natural condition which follows 
along the line of attenuation in the evolutionary progress 
of matter, from which man is not exempt 

We are admonished to "try the spirits, to see whether 
they be of good or evil intent," and we earnestly wish that 
the world understood the real import and depth of mean- 
ing in that admonition. We frequently hear people say : 
"I don't know why I did it !" A true knowledge of real 
life will reveal the seeming mystery. 

We have to keep an army of guards with gun in pocket 
and club in hand to protect us from the crude and vicious 
yet visible to us. How much more the necessity, then, to 
be on our guard against the same dangerous class who can 
roam among us at will, unseen and even unsuspected by 
the large majority. 

The gifted seer, Andrew Jackson Davis, calls them 
"the meddlesome Diaka." They being of the lower strata, 
and in close harmony with sordid humanity, find us all too 
easy of access. That is the class who delight to surround 
a sensitive (and there are hosts of human beings who now 
vibrate high enough to be subject to their vicious in- 
fluence), lower her or him down to their own mental 
level, and give all sorts of material advice, which cannot 
possibly be otherwise than worthless. 

Our experience is that it is dangerous business to open 
the psychic door and fraternize with such company. Were 
our medium to commercialize his sacred gifts, it would 



INTRODUCTION 21 

sink him down to the plane among that class, and he would 
be lost as an instrument of use for those on the refined 
plane of spirit, called heaven. Such is the caution our 
coworkers give to us. 

It is not so much a question of spirit return, as it is so 
to live that, when we cast off the mortal covering, we may 
be sufficiently refined, both physically and mentally, as to 
be able and willing to leave the selfishness of the earth 
plane and go where harmony and peace reign. But be- 
fore we can blend therewith we must have developed har- 
mony — heaven within. And what then? The higher we 
reach in the scale of refinement, to that degree are we dis- 
connected from the physical, which naturally increases the 
difficulty of reaching the loved ones on earth. 

The dense ignorance with regard to real life, life of the 
spirit, finds its root largely in the crude ancient and selfish 
teaching that thru man-made formula and arrogated 
claims of the power of absolution the red-handed mur- 
derer can be absolved and permitted to drop from the scaf- 
fold of the lowest degradation into a heaven of harmony, 
love, and peace. This is a sadly misleading teaching. 
It is not what we believe, but what we do, from day to day 
that traces the indelible record on the pages of the book 
of life. The crude is not converted into the refined thru 
belief. "Whatsover ye sow, that shall ye also reap," is the 
inexorable law. The act of forgiving has no power to 
right any wrong. The indulgent parent may forgive the 
child a thousand times for tearing its clothes, but the 
tear still remains as evidence of the mischief done. 

There is no short cut from the crude to the refined in 
nature's domain. Only by persistent effort and slow 
growth can we develop the better side in or out of the 
mortal form. But the inhuman system fostered among 
us chokes out the better tendencies, and develops only the 



22 BEYOND THE RIVER 

sordid greed that makes us inhuman, and lowers us even 
below the level of the brutes in the forest. It is leading 
to its ruin, and forcing the terrible house-cleaning now 
going on. Will there be enough intelligence left of a 
sufficiently high order to establish a humane system on 
its ruins? That is the only hope of the race. 

We are, as yet, struggling in the commercial age. The 
one to follow, should be the humanitarian age. The speed 
of its coming rests in the hands of man. The world is as 
good as we make it. It never can rise above that source. 

A study of the social and the spiritual side of man go 
hand in hand, with the same aim in view — happiness — 
Heaven. Instead of being satisfied to await the enjoyment 
of a heavenly state until we have passed thru the gateway 
called death, we would set to work and develop humanity 
and intelligence enough to establish such conditions on the 
earth plane ; then would we also be ripe to harmonize with 
and help to maintain such conditions on higher planes of 
unfoldment. 

After having passed thru the "second birth," we enter 
into a higher rate of vibration, so that, whatever our crav- 
ings may be, in the same ratio they become more firmly 
fixed. Therefore, all useless habits should be persistently 
outgrown on the earth plane. And we assure all who will 
heed this warning, that they will have eternal cause for 
thankfulness. 

In personal communications during the progress of this 
work, they have mentioned some of the later arrivals from 
the earth. Andrew Jackson Davis, John R. Francis, Prof. 
Carlisle Peterselia, and, later on, his beloved mate, Amelia, 
which I take pleasure in making known. 

As the letters were written about twelve years ago, the 
author, deeming them amateurish in parts, it being their 
first effort, she has revised and now considers the work as 



INTRODUCTION 23 

good as it is possible to describe the spirit state in the 
crude language of earth, and thru the unwieldy human 
organism. Earth comparisons must be used, so that we 
can understand. 

Our very low rate of vibration, as yet, makes the chasm 
between the two states so wide that the task of communi- 
cating is more than herculean. To raise the medium up 
to the desired vibratory rate would have the same effect 
as the contact with a high voltage electric battery, and 
equally dangerous to the physical organism. This explains 
the cause for the squirming of a sensitive when in contact 
with this higher vibratory force. 

We are at all times wideawake as to any evidence that 
might point to the truthfulness of the psychic writings 
given us. Tied to no isms, nor slaves to any creed, we 
remain unbiased, and retain an open mind. New truths 
are daily knocking for admission to the intellect of man. 

When Miss Love joy subscribed her name to the manu- 
script, the first thought was to trace any living relative. 
She finally helped us by writing that Elijah P. Love- 
joy was a distant relative, and that he met death at the 
hands of a mob at Alton, 111. 

Being on a visit to my aunt, at Effingham, 111., a dear 
soul now in her eighty-fifth year, yet seemingly spry as a 
kitten, and loved by all who know her, in her home I 
picked up a St. Louis Post-Dispatch, dated May 4, 191 8. 
I freely confess that my heart gave a few extra thumps as 
I discovered therein the following confirmation of the re- 
liability of her work: 

LOVEJOY PRESS TO BE MOUNTED 
Alton Mill Will Honor Defender of Free Speech 

The Sparks Milling Co., of Alton, yesterday closed a contract 
for building a granite pedestal on which to mount the part of 



24 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



the printing press of Elijah P. Lovejoy, found several years ago 
in a corner of the mill building. 

A bronze tablet will be suspended from the frame of the press, 
telling that Lovejoy was assassinated in Alton, 111., by a mob who 
were opposed to Lovejoy's idea of free speech and the free press. 

This added evidence is, indeed, most gratifying and 
came to hand barely in time to be inserted here. 

Tho having many other incidents of interest to relate, 
I must now bring my part of this work to a close. We 
wish it understood that we do not care to find fault with 
what has been. The crude can only express itself in the 
crude. But the human intellect is rapidly expanding, and 
notice must be taken of the fact that Justice can be jug- 
gled with only about so long before outraged nature will 
surely retaliate. The letters we offer as received, simply 
having acted as the amanuensis for the Author. It is 
beyond our power, however, to convey the many proofs 
we have had that they, tho revealing but the shell of the 
grander truths within, are real communications from 
Beyond the River. Lewis Peterson. 




AUTHOR'S NOTE 

HE earth's vari-colored disk hung low in our 
western atmosphere, when Solon made his way 
from the library to the observatory tower of the 
academy. To those who knew him it was evident that 
the great teacher was perplexed to an unusual degree. 
His head was bent forward as if heavy with the weight of 
thought, his brow furrowed with stern resolution ; in short, 
his entire being bespoke courage, faith and purpose. 

The time according to earth's calendar was 1914, just 
seven years since we had succeeded in delivering a few 
fragmentary messages to our friends by way of a child's 
hand in a cottage at Long Beach, Calif. This hand was 
very pliable at the time, and we had great hopes of bring- 
ing out some valuable work, then, but things interfered. 
First of all the boy was penniless, and due to a previous 
bereavement, broken in health and depressed in mind ; 
our work aggravated that condition so much that in order 
not utterly to destroy him we had to relinquish our con- 
trol. 

This done, he was carried hither and thither by a stream 
of events. Connection now became next to impossible. 
Earth's powers held him in thrall. He could not be 
reached except at rare intervals when we could place him 
under some mental strain. Then we could get through a 
few fragmentary lines, but nothing sufficiently lengthy to 
be of value as evidence of our existence. Thus seven 
years had passed and now it was the Spring of 1914, 
shortly before the world caught fire, and yet nothing more 
than a series of short essays of more or less general mat- 
ter had been given whose value was limited, so far, to the 



BEYOND THE RIVER 

part of giving conviction to one who already had an 
abundant assurance. More had to be accomplished, but 
how? 

Already we could see the conflict of nations ripening 
into flame. Already we saw the tidal wave of woe that 
was about to envelope the earth and sweep millions into 
the arms of Death, and other millions away from their 
spiritual moorings and cast then as flotsam and jetsam 
upon the waters of doubt and despair. The world was 
about to be plunged into a baptism of fire and blood from 
which it was to arise with a new life, made glorious thru 
the opening of a new era. But in the meantime, the 
nursing, the comforting, the consoling, the keeping bright 
the heavens of hope thru the long gloomy night of despair 
was to be ours. We knew it, but Solon felt it. 

From the window of the observatory he could see the 
great disk of earth. Here he could visualize all that was 
about to happen. He knew that it was useless to com- 
municate and tell the world what was coming; for man- 
kind does not act upon advice, but upon necessity, and 
the world woe was a necessity. It came to shear away the 
old, to make room for the new. Heaven could not stop it. 
Hell could not add to it. It was as inevitable in the course 
of things as the pains of parturition, hence it was useless 
to attempt to say a word. 

It was the nursing of the unripe fruit, it was the con- 
soling of the bereaved, it was the desire to keep hope 
alive that brought Solon to the tower. It was his desire 
to send, not a club to break the lance, but to breathe a 
word of hope to those who suffer losses, to keep aglow the 
fire of faith, without which life becomes hopeless, and 
even victory becomes defeat. 

This war now raging, is not a war against men, but a 
war of principle. It is the struggle of the "we" against 



AUTHOR'S NOTE 

the "I," the battle of humanity against selfishness. That 
is why we have waited until now when the waves of an- 
ger have touched the very shores of our bright land, to 
send out these essays written more then ten years ago 
to the parents, sisters, brothers and sweethearts of our 
men who have given themselves as a sacrifice that the 
world may be made safer, and liberty more certain for 
the masses of mankind throughout all the coming years. 

LUCELIA A. LOVEJOY. 



FOREWORD 

To those who are seeking for light, these letters are 
inscribed with the hope that they may encourage those 
who are heavy laden with the burden of fear, and who 
wend their way through a veritable desert of life, making 
their days dark, where they should be bright, their hearts 
despondent, where they should be glad. 

If we succeed or fail, our success or failure is only 
measured by the comfort, and not the wealth they bring. 

With love to all and for all ; with charity for the erring 
and hope for the lost ; with kindness pursuing the duties 
of life, I wish that you may hand to the world such a 
message as will touch and cheer the hearts in sadness 
bound, and pour sweet balm into the gaping wounds of 
sorrow deeply cleft. 

Bring healing to each heart in pain, 
Repeat the words again — again; 
There is no Death ; f orevermore 
We live and love on yonder shore. 

The Spirit Author. 



25 



FROM FLESH TO SPIRIT 
Letter 1 

WAS not aware of my transition from a material 
to a spirit plane of existence. It seemed as tho I 
had been suddenly transplanted from one reality 
into another — from a world of storm and stress to a world 
of peace and calm ; a state in which there was sunlight and 
starlight, vital and real. 

The naturalness of my surroundings surprised me, for 
I had been assiduously and sincerely fed on what to me 
was an indigestible mass of priest-made mental food, con- 
sisting not of spiritual truths spiritually discerned, but of 
human desires borne of the unholy marriage of Ignorance 
and Greed. I had been taught that heaven was attained 
only by the few, and that the many were lost. 

I had been told of streets of gold, gates of pearl, and 
jasper walls. I had been taught to believe in winged 
angels, and all the other man-made concepts of power 
and glory. You may therefore imagine my surprise, when 
I found myself in what might be called a workaday world. 
It must not be imagined that when I say workaday world, 
that it is in any way sordid. Labor born of love is never 
sordid, and nature tuned to vibrate in harmony with the 
soul is to that soul so attuned, heaven. Heaven is not 
cloudland nor starland. Heaven is any land where love 
and joy — twin sisters of God — rule the day and guard the 
night. 

I was born in the Southern wilderness, a daughter of 
pioneering parents. Our home was rustic and rude. The 
culture and refinement of civilization were to me un- 

27 



28 BEYOND THE RIVER 

known. The masters of intellect for me did not exist. 
Books, music and statuary, speech and song, were but 
slightly cultivated. I was a child of the wilderness, lov- 
ing the brooks, the pine woods, and the meadows. I 
rejoiced in the song of birds and the call of beasts, per- 
haps to you a strange mixture of wondrous hopes and 
childish fears, born of familiarity with danger, and of 
fears instilled by traditional superstition. From all this I 
was suddenly transplanted into a land of rolling hills and 
cloudless skies ; from a life of fear and fancy to a calm 
and Sabbath-like serenity. It was bewildering, to say the 
least. 

But I dare say that you are more interested in the land 
I had found, the world of spirit, than in the land I had 
left, the world of matter. At least, you will feel that way 
while reading these letters. I can fancy you asking the 
question: "What kind of a world did she find upon 
awakening from the shock ?" 

This story is told with some difficulty, not for lack of 
facts, but for want of words at once familiar to you and 
me. You know only what your senses report, and they 
report only the things of matter. Therefore, in order to 
make ourselves understood, it is necessary to use material 
terms. It is therefore unavoidable that these terms can 
but inadequately describe the things among which we live 
and move. My description can be but a photographic 
copy of a wondrous masterpiece. 

Upon regaining consciousness, I found that I had not 
been carried to the sky by angels' hands. As I had lived, 
so I died, and, carefree, I floated into the zone of my 
magnetic attraction, and as a carrier pigeon sometimes 
alights on a neighbor's roof before going to its own cot, so 
I alighted here in this meadow, as we will have to call it. 

The pines, my joy and shelter on earth, were far in the 



FROM FLESH TO SPIRIT 29 

distance, purple against the glistening mountain crags. 
This term, however, does not adequately describe the un- 
dulations of the spiritual planes. These mountains are 
not white with snow and ice. They are a crystalline, 
ethereal substance of wondrous beauty, and their perma- 
nence far surpasses that of the mountains of earth, 
because they are formed of the ether, which is the matrix 
of all matter. 

As I have said, at their foot is a pine forest, vast in 
magnitude and forming a purple belt of inspiring beauty 
between the mountains and the meadows. These meadows 
are more like a large plane, dotted here and there with 
modest dwellings, generally surrounded by ornamental 
groves. I might here remark that the houses are not 
modest because of poverty ; the reason is to be found in 
the fact that the inhabitants have to care for them, which 
makes a large dwelling a burden instead of a blessing. 

Soul types that cannot be happy without servants nat- 
urally gravitate to the companionship of the servile, and 
as there is, of need, a contrast between the server and the 
served, friction always exists, and to the degree that 
inharmony is found, to that degree happiness must be 
absent. Therefore we find in this sphere no display of 
great wealth, but only modest expressions of human needs 
— such needs as, unassisted, we can easily supply. Such 
are the reasons why the meadows are not dotted with large 
and costly dwellings. 

In this sphere there is neither idleness nor stress. It is 
a land to which the stronger individualized types of man 
and woman gravitate. Those who, while standing on their 
own feet, do not permit anyone to ride, altho they may 
suffer the weak to lean on them. 

When I awoke from my transition sleep, I found my- 
self in this meadow, under the sheltering foliage of a 



3o BEYOND THE RIVER 

cypress-like tree. At my feet sparkled a crystalline brook, 
and beyond it were trees of many different species, but 
not of a sufficient density to obstruct a view of the open 
country beyond, with its sheep-dotted pastures and vine- 
embowered houses. 

On the other hand, and beyond a magnificent stretch of 
verdure, I could see the buildings and towers of a large 
city. This city, by the way, contains no smokestacks, as 
fire, being a destructive element, has no power here. 

The processes of production are carried on along differ- 
ent lines, and in many cases for very different purposes, 
than with you. 

Such is a faint outline of the new land in which I found 
myself. Unaware of my transition, I sat, at first, ponder- 
ing over the beauty of my surroundings. Then began to 
wonder where I might be, and what had transported me 
here. While thus I was soliloquizing, two men ap- 
proached. One was a fatherly looking old gentleman, 
who addressed me kindly and inquired where I might be 
going. Upon being told that I considered myself lost, he 
pointed to the great orb, the earth, that hung like a monster 
moon on the spiritual horizon. He said that my home 
had been there, and that my folks would ere long fol- 
low me. 

This frightened me greatly. I had no real concept of 
the beauty of nature. To my mind, I was a sinner worthy 
of the worst. So, to realize that the die was cast was 
nothing less than a supreme shock. 

I fancied the city that stretched like a low cloud before 
me must be the New Jerusalem, and that these men were 
God's messengers, come to take me to my reckoning, and I 
was not uncertain as to the fate awaiting me, as measured 
by the religious standards of my mother. 

I was so frightened that I paid no attention to the smile 



FROM FLESH TO SPIRIT 31 

on the old man's lips. I could only cry out : "Oh, don't 
take me to that city ; I cannot see God, now !" Said he : 
"I shall not take thee to the city, nor can I take thee to thy 
God. Thy God is within thyself, and there thou must find 
him. But come, let us go to my home, and there thou 
wilt learn who I am and why I came for thee." 

This old gentleman proved to be my grandfather, whom 
I had never seen on the earth plane, and his house was 
cared for by a maiden aunt, Esther. Here I was kindly 
cared for until my strength permitted me to take an active 
part in the affairs of this new life. When we arrived at 
his home, I found my sister, Rosie, who had preceded me 
by a few hours, and I learned that we were to be followed 
by other members of the family soon. 

This took place in the year 1834, A. D., of your time, 
and yet it was but lately that my father completed the 
journey this far. He had strong earthly inclinations, 
which overbalanced his love even for us for a time. Grand- 
father told me as much the next day after my arrival. 
This was hard for me to believe, but time has proven that 
he had to play with the chaff of life until he became hun- 
gry for the grain. He is now with us, drawn hither by our 
continuous mental efforts, and by him becoming tired of 
the things that bind the soul. That, in his case, was not 
drunkenness, nor violence, but just mental heaviness. His 
soul could love only the concrete — the things of material 
sense, which held him to the material realm. 

In this sphe r e we have our griefs and sorrows, thistles 
and thorns of pain. If it were not so, how could we ap- 
preciate the pleasures and delights? These and many 
other things I learned during the first few days of my 
existence in the Summerland. 



1 



KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 

Letter 2 

HE new world in which I found myself was in- 
deed a heaven of rest, but in no sense a place of 
idleness. Here in spirit land, as in earthly spring- 
time, everything is young and vital, and breathes un- 
wearied activity. There is no drudgery, but only tasks of 
love. Love of doing is the motive power of our existence. 

I, while upon the earth, had loved the wild; not for 
the wildness, but for the abundance of living forms. I 
had longed to learn the name of every bird and to master 
its song. I stained many a page of the old family Bible 
with the flowers I pressed. I wanted to know every beast 
and bird. This was my heart's desire. 

I told grandfather of my hopes along these lines, and he 
decided to take me to a large academy, where I could learn 
all these things. He proposed that we go at once, but to 
that I objected. I wanted to earn some money, so that I 
could pay my way, as it was phrased, on earth. I smiled 
at his suggestion, saying: "Why, grandpa, only the rich 
can afford such an education." To which he replied: 

"Child, you are not now on earth. There we buy these 
things with silver and gold that is taken from the earth. 
Here we pay with love, that cometh from the heart. In 
our world matter has no power. Only the silver of sympa- 
thy and the gold of kindness rule. Love is the legal tender 
of the soul. Prepare then to go, for tomorrow we shall 
be on our way." 

Our journey from the midst of the valley to the foot- 
hills was very interesting. Everything was fresh and 
radiant. A strange feature was that physical labor seemed 

32 



KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 33 

to be nowhere in evidence. Toil seemed to be unknown. 
Was this, then, a world of perpetual rest ? I asked grand- 
father in regard to this, to me, so strange a phenomenon, 
and he said that "physical labor ends with physical life, as 
a general rule, but that the coarser spirits, mostly savages 
of all races, could occasionally exert a limited amount of 
physical force, but that we could not affect physical mat- 
ter. Having passed beyond the bounds of the physical, 
we have awakened to the spiritual. Here we labor with 
the power of the will." 

We now arrived at a point in our journey where the 
scene changed. The homelike valley with its homes, gar- 
dens, fields and domestic animals, was left, while around 
and about us were the foothills of the mountain range 
toward which we had been journeying. Heavy forest, 
thick with underbrush, was all about us. Myriad little 
streams made music far and near. Higher up on the hills 
we could see a kind of stunted growth, while still higher 
up the mountainside the crags became quite naked and 
barren. 

We traveled along a narrow path that led into an almost 
woodless tract. In the midst of this was a large building 
of Corinthian construction and partially surrounded by 
less pretentious but nevertheless beautiful houses. The 
immediate environs were beautified by large lawns studded 
with numerous flower beds. A short distance to the right 
of the main entrance was a large pond, the surface of 
which was as placid as a summer night — a mirror reflect- 
ing the ethereal blue of the cloudless sky above. 

What impressed me even more than the buildings was 
the vast throng of young people that seemed to move 
everywhere ; in the gardens, on the lawns, by the side of 
the pond, in the woods, and on the distant hills they moved, 
as the deer in the forest, carefree and happy. To me it 



34 BEYOND THE RIVER 

was a most pleasing scene. But when I was told that 
these young people were students, and that I was soon to 
become one of them, an unaccountable fear seized me. I 
became really frightened, for bashfulness, at that time, 
was my chief characteristic. 

We entered a rather somber looking hall, furnished 
with a few plain seats. Here grandpa asked me to wait 
while he would go and see the professor. In a few 
moments that seemed as eternities to me, he returned and 
said that the important personage was ready to see me. 
The emotions that these words awakened are difficult to 
describe. Religious awe — well, that might express it in 
part. His words of welcome, however, banished all fear, 
and gave me a mystic sense of ease for which I was pro- 
foundly grateful. After a few irrelevant remarks, he 
slowly turned the trend of conversation upon the business 
in hand. He did this so graciously that I was not even 
aware that I had given him the information he desired. 
I was expecting to be confronted with questions far be- 
yond my ken. 

I said that I loved the natural world, and would like to 
learn all its laws and mysteries. To this he replied : 

"Philosophy ! Child, you are seventy-five years ahead 
of your time. I, Solon, have been here many, many years, 
teaching and guiding, but you are the first soul who, at 
your age, ever manifested any such desire. Well, we will 
help you. You shall learn all that we can teach, and still 
more. There is no limit to knowledge. Before you are 
the scrolls of infinity. 

"A person in spirit life acquires knowledge faster than 
on earth. Memory is next to absolute. The task of 
memorizing, so burdensome on earth, is with us but a very 
slight effort." 

Writing is not done by hand, but by projection. This 



KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 35 

way of writing was a great surprise to me. I saw the pro- 
fessor tear off a piece of paper, and almost instantly it 
covered itself with writing ; at least that was the way it 
appeared to me. But I was to learn later that this paper 
was chemically prepared, so that it turned into a rich 
amber color when the concentrated thought force of the 
projector struck it, in much the same way as you would 
burn tracings upon wood with the aid of the solar rays. 

The professor arose and asked me to follow. He led 
the way into a lecture room and assigned me to a seat. 
He then said that, while there were no ironbound rules 
governing the school, they would have to insist that I 
master all the elementary branches first, and to master 
them thoroughly, as a house without a firm foundation 
cannot stand. I was only too glad to obey. 

Grandpa and the professor now took their departure 
and left me, I was going to say, alone. Surely I felt that 
way. I was, however, left in charge of a lady, who pro- 
ceeded to familiarize a class, of which I was one, with the 
work in her department. She led us thru a conservatory 
of flowers, from every land and clime of earth. Mosses 
from the icebound coast of Greenland, as well as ferns 
from the dreamy Amazon. She explained the reason for 
their existence, and why it is that the blossoms are so 
perfect in spirit life, and why fruit forms seedless here. 
It was marvelous how many things she told us in the short 
time that she was speaking. 

An attendant passed us paper, and as she came to me 
said: "Do you know how to project writing?" I replied 
in the negative. She explained how it was done, after 
which I took notes from the lectures given, which I will 
now use in an effort to give the simple truth to the world. 

Our world, like yours, uses Socratic methods of teach- 
ing. Questions and answers are the system of education 



36 BEYOND THE RIVER 

here. These questions and answers will, of course, in- 
terest the reader most, as they deal with simple problems 
of which the people of earth are yet so densely ignorant. 

We were dealing with earth's flora and its spirit birth. 
The question was asked: "When the lilac blossom falls 
from the stem, on earth, does its spirit rise up to us?" Of 
course there was a difference of opinion, which led to a 
general discussion, the result of which, when under com- 
petent guidance, was very beneficial to all concerned. 
Then said the teacher : "We will now demonstrate." Call- 
ing a boy who had lost an arm in mortal life, she asked : 

"Samuel, when you lost your arm on earth, did its spirit 
come up to us ?" 

"No," he answered, "I could feel it with me all the 
time." 

"Even so," she said, "it is with the lilac, the lily, and 
the rose. So long as their roots live in the earth, the spirit 
of the plant remains there ; but when the root and plant 
die on earth, then their life begins here. 

"Here, among plants, as well as among active life, love 
is the acme of all bliss ; for it brings not after it the pain 
of birth, as it does upon earth. The plant gravitates here, 
and its noblest expression is to blossom, as man's noblest 
expression is to love, with a deep, far-reaching and all- 
embracing devotion." 

These things were demonstrated by many tests, but it 
would require too much space to tell in detail even a few 
of the many things we learned in the preparatory depart- 
ments of this great school ; for the school curriculum is 
different in many respects from those we find upon earth. 
We begin where you leave off, and consign all to the power 
you call death. After the mortal is dropped, the spirit 
comes to us, and we study it and the relation we bear to it. 

The vegetable world presented to my mind a vast store 



KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 37 

of wonder, especially when in the course of instruction we 
learned that all kinds of vegetation does not come up to us, 
any more than all mankind, and that even here immortal 
principles, in many varieties of the vegetable kingdom, are 
but slightly understood. These difficulties being, of 
course, of an entirely metaphysical character, I consider it 
useless to enter into a detailed discussion of them. There 
are far more important subjects that lie closer to the 
human heart, and which are of deeper value to those who, 
as yet, inhabit the mortal plane. 

As I have stated, we are above or beyond the physical 
bounds of the material, and are not encumbered by com- 
pact matter. Yet we realize form, weight, time, as it 
relates to events, very much as you do. Our conception is 
keener, the faculty of acquiring and rejecting becomes 
stronger and more accurate. But all these things need 
development, so as to be directed into proper channels. 
This helps us onward and saves many disappointments. 
That is why the schools are so powerful a factor in our 
world. 

This world or sphere of ours is purely intellectual ; that 
is, to us come all who aspire high, whether they have 
climbed on earth or not. Ambition must find its vent in 
channels of truth. As soon as we can, we begin to climb, 
and the schools, with their competent teachers, are a bless- 
ing that can hardly be overestimated. 

Every mortal cherishes memories, because there is so 
much that apparently flees from us. And this cherished 
little goddess is to her or him, everything. This, too, ir 
one of the things which the school helps us to correct. 
Strange, you may say, yet it is true. We teach to forget — 
forget the world, forget the past — for the past can never 
be eternity, and it would become too long to think about. 

We rather cultivate expectancy. The prospect is every- 



38 BEYOND THE RIVER 

thing. The retrospect avails us little. Do not misunder- 
stand me that we are taught to be careless or loveless. 
No, no ! We only learn to forget the nonimportant details 
of our mortal, yes, and even of our spiritual, sorrows as 
well, from the book of memory. 

It is not profitable for mortals to speculate about spirit 
worlds, so long as they have but a trivial knowledge of 
terrestrial things. It will therefore suffice for the present 
to say that I graduated out of the common branches 
of Natural Science and was well along in the higher 
philosophy by the time that true spirit phenomena was 
recognized by a few mortals on earth. 

Solon's theory of the possibility of reaching the carnate 
world was proven beyond a doubt. The Fox sisters, at 
Hydeville, N. Y., were the first to bring the physical world 
in touch with the spiritual. And as superstition has always 
been the world's curse, this simple and direct evidence, 
given thru innocent children, was distorted into the weird 
phantasmagoria of orthodox theology ; a stain from which 
it has not freed itself to this day. 

The first writing was projected thru the mediumship of 
a young girl, who, if yet on the earth plane, would now be 
an elderly lady, but who is no longer encumbered with 
that existence. I was given the honor of making the first 
experiment, under the direction of our great professor, 
as he in person would be too strong to overshadow her 
delicate organism. We then set to work and educated her, 
so that her brain might be developed to the highest state 
of usefulness. Of course, we only instilled courage, and 
she gained a fair material education, which was a blessing 
to us, for without a good development of the brain no 
lofty thought can be expressed. 

By this time the English-speaking part on earth became 
more and more awake to the truth of our existence, and 



KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 39 

many great spirits (by this we mean men and women of 
sincerity and intellect) succeeded in impressing those of 
earth to reveal the truth, as best they could, with the in- 
struments at hand. Our accomplishment was not long a 
secret, and as we carried on a somewhat broken corre- 
spondence with our friends on earth, the powers of 
ignorance became aware of it, and began to impress their 
undeveloped thoughts and conceits upon the minds of 
men, and representing themselves to be men of genius. 

By the time my course of study was finished, I had 
developed a love for poetry and art, for my years of study 
had imprinted nature, in all its grandeur, into my very 
soul, and the time had arrived that the knowledge I had 
gained should be brought into use. I therefore went to 
my beloved teacher shortly after graduating, and told him 
that I would like to put my knowledge into practice, and 
he said : 

"You are strong now, therefore you should take your 
place among those who combat error here and those who 
work for the emancipation of souls on earth, for in pro- 
portion that we improve conditions there we improve our 
conditions here. Therefore, labor in love and patience. 
There has just been a savage war on earth, as you well 
know, so that there are many wounds to heal, both here 
and there. I have taught you how to work, labor then in 
usefulness. Inspire rather the poet, than the soldier ; the 
lover, rather than the curate. Look fo. those who possess 
the greatest amount of knowledge, for they will under- 
stand that Knowledge is Power." 



THE WORK OF PHILIP CARLISLE 

Letter 3 

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than 
are dreamed of in our philosophy." 



UR world, how shall I describe it ? It is but earth 
sublimated, etherealized, so to speak. It is a real 
world, not inhabited by mortals, for the same 
reason that confines the fish to the sea. They live in a 
fish world. Man lives a man's life in a mortal world, and 
a spirit lives a spirit's life in the spirit world. 

The deep sea fish die when brought to shallow water. 

The northman cannot long survive a torrid clime, and 
the heavy spirit cannot abide in a plane of refinement. 

Behold the natural law in the spiritual world. 

These and many kindred things I learned during my 
school days. When they were over, I returned to my 
home in the valley. After years of arduous occupation a 
person, mortal or immortal, craves rest and, may I say it, 
relaxation and quiet. For a time, at least, I wanted to 
forget earth and its troubles, school and its care, and re- 
member only mother and those I love ; for in the genial 
magnetic warmth of unselfish devotion, the soul recuper- 
ates and is filled with the purest inspiration. This and 
more I found at mother's home. 

It was a simple cottage, rustically finished, and sur- 
rounded with lawns and bushes that betrayed no lack of 
care, and located upon a peninsula-like point of land that 
was formed by a sharp curve in the stream. (This is the 
same stream that flows past grandfather's house, some 
distance below, and which we have described in a former 
letter.) To the rear is the forest, while in front, beyond 

40 



THE WORK OF PHILIP CARLISLE 



41 



the stream, are the meadows. The location is ideally suited 
to our temperament. It is the embodiment of simplicity 
externally, while within it is an oasis of comfort and pleas- 
ure. In all, there was perfect harmony. Without, the 
harmony of nature ; within, the harmony of souls. 

Within, it was plainly yet tastefully decorated. Several 
pictures hung on the parlor walls, together with large 
portraits of grandma and grandpa. Around the room 
were arranged a few neatly upholstered chairs, a sofa, and 
in the corner stood a small cabinet. In the center of the 
room was a heavy wooden table of antique style, and on it 
was a large vase filled with flowers. Directly over the 
table hung an old-fashioned lamp. Such was the parlor 
of our home. (The reason there were so many old-fash- 
ioned articles was that mother came from Quaker stock, a 
sect who cling rigidly to the old, and believe that sim- 
plicity of life is essential to their dream of salvation.) 
This room faced the open country — that is, towards the 
brook. To the right of it was sister's room, to the rear 
of this was my room, then mother's. These three bed- 
rooms comprised the entire left side of the house, while 
the parlor and the dining room comprised the right side. 
The kitchen and pantry were at the rear, and built onto 
the main part of the house. 

Such is the place I call home. I love it for its simplicity, 
but most of all for the joy I find therein — a joy that 
transcends all other pleasures. 

Natural law is ofttimes cruel, or seemingly so, for it 
takes husband away from wife, or the reverse, according 
to earthly conception, or parts friends by death or dis- 
tance ; but one thing it cannot part, and that is the bond of 
love between a real mother and her child. When I ar- 
rived at home, mother and sister greeted me at the door, 
and for the rest of the day we were busy hearing each 



42 BEYOND THE RIVER 

other's experiences and in forming plans for the future. 
When the conversation lagged, Rosie took her mandolin 
and, I can only say that she proved herself to be an artist. 

In the days that followed we spent much time walking 
in the surrounding woods. One day straying slowly along 
a winding path we came to a hut that looked as if it had 
been hastily erected. Rosie informed me that a man 
stayed there occasionally who on earth had been called a 
hermit, but that with us he was known as a prophet, 
deeply interested in the growing agnosticism of mankind ; 
for we know that agnosticism bends the mind to material 
considerations only, and makes it difficult for the spirit 
to unfold. This, however, does not mean that a good 
thoughtful agnostic is not more spiritual than a blindly 
believing church member who does not think. 

We inspected the premises. Rich and rustic as they 
were, there seemed to be, in the arrangement of every- 
thing, a strange mingling of poetic ideals and scientific ac- 
curacy, and the place interested me greatly. While thus 
engaged in observing and delineating the man's character 
from his work, the wizard of the forest suddenly appeared 
before us. I had formed mental pictures of his person- 
ality, but in these I found myself quite wrong. He ap- 
proached, and upon recognizing my sister, who had met 
him before, said, "Be welcome to my house," as she in- 
troduced me. "Let us go in," said he, "and perhaps I can 
tell something new about our mother world. I have heard 
that you take great interest in such things." I urged him 
to come with us to our home, a proposal warmly seconded 
by Rosie. She admired the old gentleman very much. 

"I might as well do that," said he. "It would be a pleas- 
ure to see your mother. And then, I dare say, there will 
be a little music." Looking at me, he asked : "Do you also 
play ?" I confessed that I was not very proficient. "And 



THE WORK OF PHILIP CARLISLE 



43 



you a sister to Rosie," he chided, smiling. During the 
remainder of the day we discussed many problems con- 
nected with the work in which we were mutually inter- 
ested. 

He had a marvelous grasp on the mental working of the 
incarnate world, in all its manifestations. He had just 
returned from an extended stay on the mortal plane, and 
mother asked how things were going there. 

"There seems to be a general improvement," said he. 
"Old errors are gradually being critically examined, and 
much that was held sacred is being discarded. New things 
are being brought to light. There is a general rush for- 
ward. A sort of a spiritual anarchy, that defies all 
guidance, has taken possession of the race. It is, I think, 
the logical reaction that follows the breaking of the 
religious chain that for ages past has held the soul in 
bondage to error. Men have used common sense in all 
matters save that of the soul. This they have always 
considered beyond the reach of investigation, and gave 
it up to blind faith, controlled by the interest of priest- 
craft. 

"The spiritual emotions have, until recently, been en- 
tirely the prey of superstition. Then, when men began 
to investigate, they began at the wrong end. Instead of 
investigating the spirit within, they began to investigate 
superstition without, which, of course, was easily proved 
to be fallacious, and the material or conscious mind came 
to the conclusion that mortal existence was all there is of 
life. By this, the already malformed spiritual attributes 
became for a while hopelessly confused, and for many 
made life a meaningless existence. Under such a system 
of free thought only men and women of genius strive to 
make life ideal. The rest eat, drink, and are merry at 
Others' expense, often." 



44 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



I then asked the speaker if he thought this state of 
affairs could be overcome, and he answered: 

"Most assuredly ; it is being overcome. More and more 
spiritual knowledge is being projected from us to the 
earth plane, and since this knowledge has been dis- 
seminated thru sensitives or mediums, as you well know, 
much of the darkness is being cleared up, and while but 
a comparatively few as yet accept it in full, all are touched 
by it. 

"The hardest agnostics, and the narrowest worshipers 
of superstition, feel the soothing influence that it sheds 
into the soul of mankind, and it brings floods of water 
upon the lurid flames of orthodox hell, until it is lost sight 
of in its own dying smoke. 

"We have several people upon earth thru whom we 
project the truth thru the phase of mediumship called 
mental. This phase will, I think, become the beacon light 
of the toiling marines upon the sea of life. 

"There is another kind of phenomena called physical, 
which is always, or mostly so, brought about by the unde- 
veloped part of the human race. Those who are anxious 
to see something mysterious come together, and by so 
doing they draw the excarnate, who, for want of better 
employment, usurp the place of those beings who sin- 
cerely try to help mankind, and masquerade most shame- 
fully as poets, sages, or even gods. These spirits are 
people who lived in earth life, with no higher incentive 
than just to live. Thus unprincipled there, they are the 
same on their arrival at the densely populated planes of 
their kind, and gloat over the deception of the mortal, 
whom they cause to look upon the phenomena with devo- 
tion. Yes," he continued after a moment's reflection, 
"they do these things, and their polluted atmosphere often 
sinks the medium down to their own level, so that even 



THE WORK OF PHILIP CARLISLE 



45 



they begin to resort to trickery, and have been known 
to bodily masquerade as the form of the departed. Such 
are the conditions upon earth as I found them." 

Mother drew a long sigh, and said : 

"I see, it is the same old world still, full of deception. 
Thank God I am out of it. Let them go on, I shall en- 
deavor to forget it." 

"And so shall I," said Rosie ; "I have no more to do 
with it." 

I, however, had more to do with it, and I knew it. I 
meant to do all in my power to ease the load until the last 
earth-cord is broken. 

Rosie brought her mandolin and also the harp, and 
together we played and sang, "If I were a voice, a per- 
suasive voice, I would fly on the wings of air." The old 
man's soul seemed lost in the music. In his deep grey eyes 
shone the light of sympathetic love, such as includes all 
things in its fond embrace. When the music ceased, he 
raised his head and said : 

"What a world of meaning in those notes and words ! 
But why do you sing, 'If I were a voice, a persuasive 
voice ?' My dear ladies, you are a voice, soothing, heal- 
ing. You and I can soar on the wings of air. We can 
enter the hearts of men ; we can bring comfort and solace 
to mankind. We must do that, for it is true that only as 
we labor towards the highest god that we can perceive can 
we attain the highest reward. 

"I have seen upon earth a man," said he, "who is a 
power in himself. He breaks down and tears away the 
ancient errors to which many people have held fast, thus 
cutting the soul adrift. This brings peace to the intel- 
lectual only. The ignorant and the sluggish, being thus 
deprived of hope of reward for honest effort, or fear of 
the future, start on a downward path. If the voice of 



46 BEYOND THE RIVER 

you and me, then, can enter into the hearts of such, and 
show them the truth of immortality, then shall our world 
blossom as the morning-glory, and as the azure sky shall 
our land be bright." 

While we were meditating the problems of bettering 
conditions upon earth, I heard a slight commotion, and 
looking out of the window I saw grandfather and Solon, 
the great teacher, approaching. In pleased surprise I ex- 
claimed, "Well, well !" and hastened to the door to admit 
them. Upon entering, my former teacher saluted us kind- 
ly. Then turning, he saw our guest, who smiled and arose. 
Solon seemed pleased to see him here, and they shook 
hands cordially, as also did grandpa. As was his habit, 
Solon at once proceeded with his business by asking Mr. 
Carlisle if he had been successful in his latest experiment 
upon the mortal plane. 

"To a certain extent I have," he answered, "but as a 
whole the work finds very slow acceptance." 

"Don't talk about slow," said the professor. "Are there 
not oceans of time in eternity ?" 

"To be sure," replied the other, "but let us take it as if 
it were an emergency. The earth has been in darkness so 
long, and even now is far from being in the light." 

"Well," said the professor, "it is with that in mind that 
I make this visit." Then turning to me, he said : 

"How would you like to do such missionary work ?" 

I told him that my mind had not changed, and that my 
hopes were as bright as ever along that line. 

He then informed us who were interested, that we 
might make regular visits to earth, and be on the lookout 
for honest mediums or psychics, thru whom we could 
communicate to the world a certain knowledge of immor- 
tality. Further said he : 

"I will gather around us a number of distinguished men 



THE WORK OF PHILIP CARLISLE 



47 



and women who will operate thru such psychic. We will 
select from those who but lately came to us, as they can 
state the facts plainer than those who have outgrown mor- 
tal tastes and desires." 

Mother now entered, and after the exchange of greet- 
ings the great man complimented her upon our pleasant 
home and its surroundings, after which the subject in 
hand was continued. It was agreed that I return to the 
academy with the professor and arrange matters there. 
He had been informed that several noted men were about 
to come up to us, and we desired to arrange for their re- 
ception. Grandfather now took my hand, and in his char- 
acteristic way said : 

"Well, child, thou hast labored and prospered, and hast 
been a blessing to thy mother. Now, then, mayest thou 
prosper in thy work among our brethren. If I had thy 
wisdom, verily, I would go and teach, even as thou. But 
let me be content to w r ait and to learn." 

Then kissing mother goodby, I was ready to go. Our 
teacher in the meantime had taken leave of the prophet, 
and had requested him to instruct grandfather, mother, 
and sister, and explain to them the importance of our 
work, which he agreed to do to the best of his ability. 

While walking in the shade of the forest, Solon re- 
marked : 

"There is one thing about your home that appeals to me, 
and that is its Godlike simplicity of structure and the 
divine sincerity of those who dwell therein. If I can have 
my way, earth shall know the story of your home in spirit 
land." 




AMONG THE RUINS 

Letter 4 

"Sweet is the thought of victory, 
Tho not on gory fields; 
But rather in pure industry 
Where toil its harvest yields." 

N arriving at the academy, we found several of 
those who had been earth's most prominent people 
awaiting us. Among them were Thomas Paine, 
Benjamin Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton, Bacon, and Vol- 
taire. This is not his real name, but I use it because it is 
best known on the earth. John Stuart Mill and Robert 
Collier were also among the assembled guests. 

You may think it strange that men of so vast a differ- 
ence in religious opinion could harmonize here. But that 
only illustrates the fact that it is not what we believe, 
but what we do, that counts and raises us to a high level 
of spiritual progress. 

Religion is the intellectual womb of the race. In it all 
sciences are conceived and nurtured, until they are born 
into objective reality, and become a part of our conscious 
and verified knowledge. Herein lies the difference be- 
tween scienie and religion : 

Science is what we know to be true, having demon- 
strated its reality. Religion is what we conceive to be 
true, but which is beyond the realm of verification. 

All these souls labored earnestly for mankind. Their 
brains were brilliant as stars on a frosty night. They had 
the imagination of poets, the sincere souls of children. 

48 



AMONG THE RUINS 49 

That is why they were with us. One drop of sincerity is 
better than an ocean of belief. I was introduced to those 
I had not met, and to their ladies. You notice that I say 
ladies, and not wives. The fact is that some of these 
people had more than one wife or husband upon earth; 
and some whose wife or husband vibrated on an entirely 
different plane of intelligence, who, therefore, could not 
reach them here. 

Physical or temporal existence often brings forth but 
physical or temporal wife or husband, and that is why it 
is sheer folly for you to limit eternal harmony to your 
temporal existence. 

You might think that there were only men present, but 
such is not the case. Here in this world we meet our 
due equal sooner or later, and w T e even marry, as on 
earth, for the sake of convenience, as this soul-union is 
not likely to be brought about in the lower grades of spirit 
existence. It is well known to us that some stay in spirit 
life many years before their soul-mates, as we call them, 
come up to them, which change, when consummated, is 
the end of spirit existence ; for after that we develop into 
angelhood, and gradually lose the memory of our earth 
existence. 

This, however, never comes about until both are intel- 
lectually fitted for the change — that is, they must at least 
have passed the fifth sphere or plane of progression. How- 
ever, those who marry here and, not being soul-mates, 
understand each other, when the right time comes, each 
will join his or her other self, and the one who is left 
does not feel cast off, but retains the good will of the 
other, until he or she also meets their due equal. 

Nature is not ideal. One is torn from the other by 
the inexorable law of change. The one to progress up- 
ward, and the other to remain, perhaps to associate with 



50 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



others, while the one who has progressed may meet the 
true mate and thus become perfected. 

Love can here be expressed for the right one only. 
For the other, the association is mere companionship. 
Nature itself rules in a way that all will understand when 
they arrive here. 

These men, as I have said, were awaiting our arrival. 
When the meeting had been opened, Solon delivered an 
address, telling us that it was now thirty years of earthly 
time since men had come into conscious contact with the 
spirit realm. Because we all know that long before Mod- 
ern Spiritualism was known upon earth, we could im- 
press, inspire, and partially control men. But it is only 
from that time, that our existence has been widely demon- 
strated and disputed. 

While we build up for the elevation of mankind, igno- 
rant influences have also entered the field, often actuated 
by sympathy for someone in the body, in trying to give 
material advice, and so destroying the beautiful temple of 
light which we were erecting, by undermining the indi- 
viduality of men, and furnishing some with an excuse 
for crime by taking refuge in the theory of obsession, 
and also breaking the spirit of self -development in others, 
while waiting for knowledge to be poured into their 
untutored brain. 

"Spiritualism is falling," said Solon, "from the height 
of the ideal to the mire of materialism. Alas, our fair 
city is crumbling into ruin, and where once was heard 
the angel's voice we now see and hear the fortune teller 
alongside the worker for the forces of light, both trying 
to tell what the future has in store for those who come 
to them. Truth may be trodden down by its oppressors, 
but from under its dominant feet it shall rise again and 
stand erect. 



AMONG THE RUINS 51 

"We are not the only society that labors for this end, 
and we do not represent all nations. Kant, Bruno, and 
Spinoza, intellectual stars of other races, are doing their 
part to the mental advancement of the world. We call 
upon them as fellow-workers, that they may give us their 
advice, for we certainly need their counsel and their 
wisdom. 

We have now upon the earth plane two writing me- 
diums who place before the people the truth in two forms, 
one upon strictly scientific basis and the other in the 
form of romance, and thru these the world has learned 
much, of our existence. 1 

"Thru one of these will be given, ere long, the story of 
my other self [Upon hearing this the assembly ap- 
plauded], and also the story of our life here, for, tho that 
opens higher doors to me, I will still work for you all 
and the mortal world. 2 

"Far from earth-bound tho I be, my actions are 
prompted by naught but love for the world. From it 
came I to you, and from it came she to me [A beautiful 
woman with long, flowing hair, now walked over to his 
side, and again the audience broke into applause]. 3 Can 
you blame me that I love old Mother Earth? Can you 
help loving it ? Can you fail to weep with me over strug- 
gling humanity that lies in the throes of ignorance, torn 
asunder by the rough hands of credulity? 

"Now, we will make it our business, with your per- 
mission, to place before the world the truth, in clear, 



1 This refers to the books of Petersilea, Hudson and Emma 
Rood Tuttle.— L. P. 

2 This was published as a serial in The Progressive Thinker 
about twelve years ago, entitled "Solon and Alary." — L. P. 

3 This lady was Mary Anne Carew, the wife of Franz Petersilea 
and the mother of Prof. Carlisle Petersilea. — L. P. 



52 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



comprehensive form, thru the means we have in hand, 
and it is our hope that all may cooperate with us in this 
great undertaking. The instruments in hand cannot live 
forever upon the mortal plane, so we must look for their 
immediate successors, and to that end I would appoint 
a committee, who will look for worthy instruments in 
the interest of unpolluted truth." 

After dwelling upon the various plans deemed advis- 
able, the meeting was opened for a general discussion. It 
would be needless, however, to give a detailed account of 
the proceedings. It is enough to say that we came to the 
conclusion to do all in our power for the advancement 
of humanity, and I was numbered among those who 
should endeavor to procure instruments for present and 
future use, be they in whatsoever walk of life. The 
meeting was then adjourned, and after having spoken a 
parting word to my friends, I took my departure in order 
to look over the work to be done, and to see what was 
most sadly needed in the advancement of unpolluted truth. 

Upon arriving on the earth plane, I first looked into 
the quarters where spirit power was recognized, and 
there, sad to say, chaos reigned supreme, and so far I 
had only studied the condition of established spiritualism. 
On viewing the situation, the words of the professor came 
forcibly to mind, when he said: 

"In trying to correct any evil, first locate the cause." 
So here I stood, face to face with a state of affairs that 
was indeed complicated and pitiful. "What is the cause 
of this state of affairs?" I asked myself, and was not 
long in discovering the answer. 

The cause was, first of all, a lack of development. The 
land swarmed with psychics of various degrees of unfold- 
ment, most of whom had developed just enough to be 
able to distinguish between a spiritual impression and a 



AMONG THE RUINS 



53 



common, ordinary mind-born thought. Having given a 
few fairly correct tests, they set themselves up as teachers 
of life and its unexplored mysteries. Teaching all sorts 
of preconceived theories, no two of which would harmon- 
ize, and none of which met the facts, indeed I stood 
among the chaos of a former glory. Could these scattered 
stones be restored to anything like an ordinary edifice, and 
how ? 

To properly develop all the so-called mediums and 
banish frauds was impossible ; therefore we had to resort 
to the next best thing, and that was to give as full a vent 
to the truth as we possibly could thru a few honest, well- 
developed psychics who were in the field at that time, and 
further, to be on the lookout for any new light that might 
spring up. After this had been arranged for, the next 
thing was to get the partially developed but honest me- 
diums at work, and thru them get the chain of workers 
of our society together. This was about the year 1885, 
A. D., of your time. 

At that time I found that I could operate best thru those 
who did not purport to be mediums, or those who knew 
of their gifts but made no public display of them. But 
none of those could reach the person (L. P.) in whose 
hands I wanted to intrust the uniting of the links that 
should bring our workers upon earth together, and also 
that he might do a legitimate share in keeping the light 
trimmed and burning to the very end of the old workers' 
career. 1 

Two things were uppermost in my mind. One was to 
let the romantic and spiritual-historic work go on with 
the instruments we were using, and the other was to bring 
upon the field of action a new light, who should fill her 



1 That was the second object in sending me to the Petersilea 
home. — L. P. 



54 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



place, and who would manifest other phases of legitimate 
mediumship. But as it was, I had not even succeeded in 
making myself known to the person (L. P.) who I knew 
had to cooperate with me upon the incarnate plane. 

I finally solved the problem. By continuous impression 
I at length got him to write an article which was pub- 
lished in the Progressive Thinker, and this being widely 
read by seekers of truth, I brought it to the notice of a 
man who had considerable seeing power as well as artistic 
ability. They entered into a correspondence, and seeing 
that, I knew my work would be a success. I then im- 
pressed my likeness upon the artist's brain, so that when 
he came in contact with the magnetism conveyed in the 
letters from the other person (L. P.) he could see me 
clairvoyantly, and thus was I enabled to present him with 
the picture now in his possession. Having thus succeeded 
in the purpose of my visit, I returned home, satisfied that 
a step in the right direction had been taken to the uplift- 
ing of an apparently fallen cause. 

So far, I had only connected myself with the condi- 
tions of spiritualism, and found it sorely shattered and 
without center. I would soon return, however, and in- 
vestigate the spiritual conditions of my race in general. 
My stay at home was brief, indeed, for I found there sev- 
eral friends of the academy, and with them I went to the 
school of learning, where a meeting was to be held and a 
report of our work made. This being done, I again re- 
turned to view the spiritual ruins of the world. 

Once more I found myself upon the earth plane. I 
noted carefully the conditions everywhere. Spiritual loose- 
ness reigned. The preacher painted lurid pictures of fiery 
damnation, while many of his hearers looked at each other 
and smiled. Others were pleading in different directions, 
and while they succeeded in many cases in arousing and 



AMONG THE RUINS 55 

developing some kind of emotional feelings, in the best 
classes of society, it was looked upon more as a social fad 
than as a form of power. Men were losing all faith in 
any future existence, or held ideas in accordance with 
their own feelings upon the subject. Even among these 
classes all was chaos, idle and meaningless show. 

The only sign of harmony was found among agnostics, 
materialists, atheists, and free thinkers generally. They 
only waited to be confronted with genuine manifestations 
of spirit power to arrive at an understanding of the real 
divine truth, that life is eternal. It was gratifying that 
amongst the ruins and fall of religion this spirit was slowly 
growing, and I made note of it as only being necessary to 
present the truth plainly and the world would come to a 
broader day, as light was already breaking, even into the 
strongest temples of darkness. 

Rome, old, stale, and rotting in her own unprogressive 
rut, was working hard to keep her followers enslaved. 
But she is losing; her ancient structures are crumbling 
more and more. 

Protestantism also was getting to be more liberal. In 
short, their God was becoming more of a gentleman. And 
here, strange to say, we could see from among the 
tumbling ruins some of the more progressive getting 
nearer to the truth. Taking the fallen stones, they builded 
such forms as Universalism and Unitarianism, while those 
who were still asleep, or as yet fast bound, also took stones 
and constructed small, petty, fanatical sects. Superstition 
was falling, Reason was raising her defying head, and 
from the flash of her searching eyes the monster Ignorance 
shrank like a hound before his master's lash. 

Such was the condition among the systems that had 
preyed upon the pious feelings of the human heart. Yes, 
among the spiritual ruins the soul of men hungered for 



56 BEYOND THE RIVER 

food intellectual ; food that should raise them to the truth- 
ful Understanding of life and its apparent mysteries. 

Science could but partially satisfy them, as it embraces 
but two-thirds of the field. It taught them all about the 
organic and inorganic kingdoms, but this spiritual king- 
dom it recognized not. As for the Church, she recognized 
that kingdom but knew nothing about it. Thus we found 
upon the world, then as now, ruin, spiritual anarchy 
among many, total indifference among some, abject fear 
among the rest. 

After having made a complete investigation of the situa- 
tion as pertaining to the churches, I visited one of her 
great adversaries, and tried to impress him with the truth, 
but tho he became milder in his denunciation of the ques- 
tion of immortality, he retained his place in the vanguard 
of intellectual liberty as long as he lived upon the earth 
plane. 

Having finished this part of my work, I returned from 
Among the Ruins. 




WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? 

Letter 5 

"Here the common sense of all 

Shall hold a fretful realm in awe, 
And the kindly earth shall slumber, 
Lapt in Universal Law." 

TANDING among the ruins of crumbling creeds 
and forms, in the midst of the world wrapt in the 
darkness of ignorance, we behold the rosy-hued 
dawn of freedom breaking upon the horizon of human 
intellect. Everywhere is commotion; everywhere unrest 
and excitement. Surely the athlete Reason challenges to 
mortal combat the monster Superstition. Men awaken 
everywhere, shake off the shackles, and become free. 
Altars and thrones tremble and fall. The voice of king 
and priest is drowned by the clamor of the masses. Their 
influence shrinks like shadows before the rising sun. 

"Far up the crystal mountain of human thought we 
behold the vanguard of the pioneer of intellectual liberty. 
Satan and Jehovah vanish before it like a wreath of morn- 
ing mist. Kingdoms of tyranny fall ; republics of freedom 
arise. Men have come to the state where they realize that 
they have been deluded by the blackness of ignorance, 
night. But when the light broke, by its first faint ray they 
recognized their oppressors to be but weak fellow mortals. 
They are beginning to learn that they fill a place in crea- 
tion ; that homage is due to none ; that personal liberty, 
physical and mental, is the divine right of everyone who 
draws mortal breath. Such is the condition upon earth. 
Such is the awakening at the dawn of the intellectual 
morning. 

57 



58 BEYOND THE RIVER 

"Still, not all have seen its radiance. No ! Only a com- 
paratively few have arisen and are journeying to meet the 
light. Others, awaking and finding the light but weak, 
have turned over and again slumber, only to find them- 
selves far in the rear of human progress. While pitiful 
to say, there are large masses of people whom it has not 
yet reached. 

"They lie in the thick-walled temples of superstition. 
They hear the commotion without, and think it a dream. 
Therefore we must still let the crumbling go on. The fall 
must be completed. The most lazy sleepers in the still 
standing edifices of superstition and faith must be exposed 
to the storms of thought and action ; must be shaken by 
the winds of human progress. Yes, they must be made to 
realize that the earth is already rosy with the dawn of 
intellectual freedom. 

"Nature is unfolding the brain ; making it susceptible to 
higher and more liberal thought ; putting into the soul of 
man a large interrogation point, the image of which he 
now sees upon everything. No longer can a robed hypo- 
crite stand between him and his soul. No longer can his 
ideals be made for him. No, they cannot ! The man who 
has seen the light has had with that the scales removed 
from his eyes, and has seen around him the ruins of 
despotism. He has looked away into the azure depths of 
the sky and beheld their boundless freedom — boundless 
purity. 

"No vengeful being peered down at him from the depths 
of the silver-lined clouds. In the light he saw the infinite. 
It was great — far greater than he. He could not harm it ; 
therefore could not be responsible to it. His responsi- 
bility, then, must be to his fellow mortals. He learned to 
love all, and the chains crumbled from his soul. 

"In the light of the intellectual morning he saw that in 



WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT 



59 



the heavens of thought there was room for every wing; 
that each could fly to his own level. Therewith he became 
liberal. The light illuminated the hills of earth and re- 
vealed their wonders. Truth had written its story upon 
the rocks in characters that testified to their own veracity. 
They told of former creations — of other men and beasts 
that had roamed the earth. The light filled the heavens, 
and among the stars he read the story of nature's 
grandeur, and began to form conceptions of the Universe. 
Gradually earth became smaller as his mind enlarged. He 
realized that he was part of all. Fear left him. Love 
took its place. No longer was man lord alone. No, sir ! 
His wife became 'a lady. She too saw the light, and 
realized that her husband was not her master, but her due 
equal, and that she had a voice in the affairs of the world ; 
and this right she is slowly but surely winning. 

"So the world improves as the light advances. The ice- 
bergs of formality and creed melt before the ascending 
sun of science. The school is built from the ruins of the 
church. The schoolmaster takes the place of the pastor. 
The library arises from the ruins of the convent. All 
these changes are taking place. Slowly, it is true, but even 
now, while yet in the twilight, we can see the shaping of a 
happier material existence which, we trust, will make the 
spirit fit to embrace the truths of immortality. Even in 
the comparatively few years that spirit life has been dem- 
onstrated upon earth, it has done much good in this way. 
Tho true, it has been stained and polluted by the grave- 
dust of antiquated creeds. 

"We have several strong lights, who bring before man- 
kind, even at this early stage of man's development, at 
least the partial truth. And while the wicked and the 
ignorant have taken hold of it for selfish gain, making the 
phenomena in many cases, to say the least, suspected by 



60 BEYOND THE RIVER 

the great mass of the people, yet it is true that even now 
we have in our ranks some of the foremost leaders of the 
scientific world. And we know that as the sun rises the 
shadows will shorten. Men will see farther and farther 
into the wonders of existence. They will learn how to 
connect with us, and the laws that govern their being and 
ours. Then it will be impossible to deceive them, and 
more, being able to express ourselves fully to the mortal 
world, we will be able to tell them that it is not well to 
draw back the spirit and encumber it with matter. This, 
however, will be unnecessary, for their reason will teach 
them these things as their minds develop. Then, as they 
leave the mortal, they will rise above the plane of mortal 
desire. 

"Reason! Oh, thou white-winged messenger of free- 
dom ! Enter thou into the homes of men. Wake with the 
fanning of thy silvery wings the dreamers in the ruins of 
form. Soar above them, thou beauteous dove of light, so 
that they may see with thee the freedom of heaven. Let 
them behold thee above the stormy sea, whose waves wait 
for no man. Let them behold thee among the mountains, 
that they may be impressed with their power and splendor. 
Then teach them to take the stone of crumbling ruin and 
construct houses where thou canst dwell, thou inspirer of 
peace and joy." 

Such were the words of our great teacher, as he re- 
turned from earth shortly after I had made my last visit. 
This meeting was held in the great park which constitutes 
part of the forest upon the hill to the rear of grandfather's 
house. 

It was more than sixty years ago that I had attended 
a meeting in this park, on our arrival in spiritland. What 
changes would we have seen upon earth if we visited a 
place at the age of twenty- four, and again sixty years 



WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? 6 1 

later ! How aged and broken we would likely be. How 
unfamiliar everything would appear. Not so here. In- 
stead of having become weaker, we are stronger. Instead 
of seeing mostly new faces, we saw many that we had seen 
then, and others with whom we had subsequently become 
acquainted. 

Age, that fell tyrant of earth, which crumples every- 
thing into unlovely helplessness, has no power over the 
spirit and has no power here. Freed from the sway of 
physical dissolution, the soul unfolds like the morning- 
glories unfolding in the light of a new-born day. Men do 
not weaken with us on account of the lapse of time. Even 
the speaker was the same, not aged, as you would expect. 
Oh, no ! He was grander and stronger, and had developed 
to a higher state of being. Still, we beheld certain 
changes. Great men who had but lately left the earth 
were present, and told how they had doubted and ignored 
the spiritual factors of existence. Some of them joined 
our society and agreed to work thru our mediums. Now 
they were with us, and expressed themselves in eloquent 
terms. The meeting continued a considerable time, ad- 
dresses and music following in succession. 

Great singers were heard, whose voices moved the 
multitude to laughter and to tears. One of these, who on 
earth was known as the Swedish nightingale, sang a 
spiritual song, a song that has not been heard on earth, 
entitled, "When Our Mortal Cord Is Broken." When the 
applause ceased, the assembly was dismissed and we 
returned to our respective homes, newly consecrated to 
the work of emancipating the world, and it was a good 
many years, as you would say, before I attended another 
meeting in the old park. 

In the meantime, it went from bad to worse, spiritually, 
so far as soul unfoldment on earth was concerned. But 



62 BEYOND THE RIVER 

strong scientific interest was aroused in the phenomena of 
mind as it acts upon matter. This brought the world face 
to face with unquestionable evidence, and while this 
brought it down to hard material equation it is, neverthe- 
less, a blessing to the world, as it is the only way that the 
fact will be empirically recognized by the rank and file of 
humanity. 

After many years of continuous effort, I had occasion to 
go to another meeting in the old park, as it is called here. 
And among others, I was surprised to see our old friend, 
Mr. Carlisle, accompanied by two other men, ascend the 
platform. Looking over the audience for a few moments, 
he said: 

"Friends, you all know of my labor for the mortal 
world, and how I strive to uplift humanity. It is needless 
for me to tell you again the story of my mortal existence. 
I have told it time and again from this platform. How- 
ever, one thing I wish to recall to your minds, and that is : 
I have often told you of a power in mortal life that de- 
stroyed, broke down, and cut asunder the forms of spir- 
ituality to which men cling. I have also told you but 
lately that his shadow was growing very dark upon earth. 
I predicted here that nature would not leave him much 
longer upon the plane of action on which he was, and this 
same prediction have I sent to him thru the instrumentality 
of a medium of our society. He read that message in earth 
life, thanked the sender, and shortly thereafter came 
to us. 1 

"Finding not the kind of world he had been taught to 
expect, having nothing to settle at Gabriel's office, as he 
called it when questioning me about the matter, what more 

1 1 was permitted to read that acknowledgment in the Petersilea 
home by the medium referred to. It bore the signature of Robert 
G. IngersolL— L. P. 



WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? 63 

can I say than that he labored and expressed the highest 
thoughts within — yea, expressed them fearlessly. He is 
now with us, and his brother. As he can do the occasion 
better justice than I, he will now address you." 

The audience applauded, and the band played a stirring 
air. When the music ceased, Mr. Carlisle said: "Friends, 
Col. Robert Ingersoll and his brother." He then left the 
platform. Mr. Ingersoll began his address in a deep, 
musical voice that reached all parts of the large gathering. 

"Ladies and gentlemen : I wish to apologize for being 
here. You see, I expected to travel a farther distance. As 
it is, the train was a little ahead of time. You will under- 
stand that the timetables they have at the stations in my 
home country I did not believe to be very reliable. And 
the guides are mostly in the business to earn a living only. 
So you must excuse me if I am a little ahead of time. 

"Nevertheless, as I look about me and see the contented 
faces, I cannot believe but that all is well. I am here, and 
have learned another great lesson in the justice of Nature. 
As I look back along the path of life, I can see but little to 
regret. Where I have fought, on earth, I have done so 
with the sincerity of purpose that drove my adversaries 
from the field. I have done my little best to tear away the 
fences that bar the flowers of freedom from the hands of 
men. 

"I found upon the world bondage enough, yea, poverty 
and ignorance enough, to keep me busy. These things I 
could see, I could feel, and they made my heart bleed. I 
could see the smiles of youth, changed by orthodox stupid- 
ity into the grave sanctimony of fancied meekness. I saw 
hundreds of children made miserable one-seventh of the 
time by old, formal religion. I saw mothers, young and 
beautiful, pressing to their warm bosoms the heads of their 
suffering babes, trembling lest the fever should be fatal, 



64 BEYOND THE RIVER 

and their sweet children not being baptized, should be 
clutched by a vengeful God and roasted forever. 

"I saw liars, paid liars, tell the mothers before them 
that they could be happy in heaven while their brave sons, 
who gave their lives upon the battlefield in the cause of 
humanity and freedom, were suffering untold torments. 
Then I heard them read to those people from a book — a 
book that sanctions slavery and polygamy — a book that 
makes man a tyrant and woman a slave. 

"Again, I saw blackrobed hypocrites telling young and 
beautiful maidens that they should not enter wedlock ; that 
it was considered purity in the sight of the all-wise to shut 
themselves up in convents. I saw all these things, and 
shuddered. Then I became aroused and told the people 
what I thought and what I knew. (I had read Blackstone 
enough to have a fair idea of justice.) I attacked their 
doctrines and derided their systems, until against me arose 
all viperous tongues of slander — all the venom- tongued 
malice of orthodox hatred. I had to reply, and it kept me 
busy — so busy that I could not look any further than 
earth. I recognized it as my country ; I wanted to make it 
better for having lived in it. 

"I did not deny immortality. I was not acquainted with 
it, and did not believe there existed a mortal being who 
was. Consequently I lived on, satisfied of the justice of 
Nature. I knew the impossibility of infinite punishment 
for finite crime, and infinite reward for finite virtue. So, 
I tried to make the best of the world. Now I am here, and 
in the sea of faces before me I have already noticed those 
whom I knew on earth. I find that here we are only a 
step further up in the scale of progress. 

"Yonder rolls the earth, and today, if I were to return, 
I should find weeping and sorrow. I should see swollen 
eyes, and hear the deep heart moan of those I love. I sor- 



WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? 65 

row with them, I grieve with them ; but my grief has the 
consolation of knowing that it is only a question of time 
until around me in a new home again I shall see them all 
and they shall see me. For, after all, what would this life 
be if we did not know and love again the dear ones we 
have left on earth ? And now, fellow workers in the cause 
of human liberty, I appreciate your efforts in the work of 
human betterment, and I can assure you of my hearty co- 
operation." 

The voice of the speaker grew weak, being as yet young 
in spirit life. His strength failing, he closed his address 
and left the platform, amidst applause and music. 

After him, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher spoke on the 
subject, "The Healing of the Spirit." His address covered 
all the various branches of mental affliction, and he pleaded 
with his hearers that they should all do their part in the 
correction of those evils, so that the spirit might develop 
in the body to its normal state of existence. 

He told us that a great many people upon earth, in every 
walk of life, were spiritually ill. He said, further, that 
all mania, all vile and unclean habits, all tendency towards 
crime, all violence and malice were phases of spiritual de- 
rangement, and also the extremes the other way. He 
urged the society to bring before the world an interest in 
psychology, so that, in studying the mind, men might learn 
to develop a good, all-around individuality, which would 
lead them to investigate along safe and sane lines. 

Many other speakers were heard, each upholding some 
theory by which he thought the conditions upon earth 
could be improved, after which the reports of our workers 
were read by the watchman of our society, and he, with 
the speakers that had been heard, told effectually the 
story, What Was of the Night. 




AMONG THE POETS 

Letter 6 

AN is a social being. The work necessary to our 
existence irresistibly brings us together in what- 
soever field we labor, be it for our improvement 
here or for the enlightenment of humanity on earth ; be it 
amongst the hills and forests or in the field of science 
and art. All these things bring their own compensation, 
and by it we exist. 

Upon earth you mold in clay. Here we form in the 
psychological substances which it is needless to describe. 
Upon earth the men delve in mysteries and form theories, 
be they true or false, and their labor brings its reward. 
Here we ascertain facts, and they are a reward in them- 
selves. This is our business side of existence. But we 
have another — that is, the social side of our being. 

Everything progresses as time goes on. As soon as it 
stops progressing, it is no longer fit for the plane upon 
which it exists. As in all other things, improvement is a 
great factor in our social economy. Betterment in every 
form is the only way by which we can realize our ideal. 
Therefore the social conditions must be strictly attended 
to. But upon earth this is sadly neglected. 

The mental makeup of a person always leads her or him 
into certain classes of society — some even to the extent 
that their whole time is being taken up by social work. If 
this work is along the line of human betterment, it is 
highly commendable. But if it is perverted by vainglory, 
it is deplorable. It may seem strange, but even death does 
not purge from all faults. 

We gravitate into social surroundings in accordance 



AMONG THE POETS 67 

with our mental makeup. My sister found her place in 
the society of musicians. My mother, aunt, and grand- 
father, being lovers of the quiet and home life, moved in 
their particular society ; while such men as the professor 
naturally associated with the ranks of science and educa- 
tion, each being happy in his place. 

I do not wish to give the impression that we are here 
divided into separate classes. No, no ; far from it. This 
is only true in general. Many people move and act in 
various branches. It is not here a matter of money, but 
of love, harmony and intellectual achievement. There is 
no scheming for finances, as we can only develop within 
ourselves. Here we stand upon our merits, and are valued 
only by the beauty of soul, the beautifying of which lies 
within our own power. Such are the rules that govern our 
social system. 

Upon earth I had been a lover of the beautiful, an ad- 
mirer of all that was rustic, wild, and natural. My mind 
vibrated in harmony with the forces of nature. To me all 
nature vibrates in harmony. Only men place themselves 
in discord with the greater forces, which creates discord 
within their own souls. Then they say : "All nature is 
out of tune," forgetting themselves. This harmony had 
become a part of my life, so that when I arrived here I 
longed for the same. 

I hied to the solitude of the forest, where, among the 
stately trees and blossoming undergrowth, I could sit and 
listen to the music of rippling water, to the warbling and 
twittering larks and linnets ; where I could inhale the 
sweet perfume of lovely flowers. There was my society. 
There, and there only, could my soul attain greater heights. 
Through the rifts in the green foliage above me I could see 
my soul ascend to still higher realms. I could see visions of 
perfect angelhood, a fact of which some are skeptical, even 



68 BEYOND THE RIVER 

here. I could commune with my soul, lulled into that 
divine ecstasy where the spirit, loosed from the present 
existence, wherever that may be, soars amidst the golden 
clouds of the untrodden future. Oh, mortals, if you would 
lay aside your earthly cares now and then and aspire up- 
ward, what a world of new delight you would find in your 
otherwise prosy life! Such was my temperament, and 
naturally it placed me in the society of poets. Men and 
women after my own heart were attracted to me, and I 
to them. 

Edgar Allan Poe, the poet of love and sadness, writes 
here. Having found again his lost Lenore, he sings to our 
world his newer songs of pathos — those soul-inspiring 
thoughts, divinely pure. In his home we can see the bust 
of Pallas, just above his chamber door. But upon it sits 
no more the raven croaking, for by his side lives and acts 
that being whom the angels call Lenore. 

I love and admire this man for the tenderness of his soul, 
for the beauty of his character, for the divine creations of 
his brain, that cannot help but to draw out the highest 
emotions of anyone who reads his work. 

Poe is the poet of the human heart. He draws his 
inspiration from humanity. The natural fires that burn 
within the human heart are his themes. Therefore we 
find his home near the city, where he can mingle with men 
freely. Its plainness is even now suggestive of his earthly 
sorrow. But within its walls dwells a harmony which only 
the eloquence of his lips can express. 

"Earth's sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest 
thoughts." On earth he is maligned even to this day. 
His deep, brooding soul was pained by the giddy terror 
of the world's mad-rushing tide, that ground out and 
crushed the violets and lilies of life with the ruthlessness 
of death. His eye saw the world's pain. His soul 



AMONG THE POETS 69 

wilted under its terrible aspect. He tried to forget, and 
forgetfulness he bought at the expense of physical ruin 
and the calumny of the world. But the physical weakness 
of the architect does not necessarily affect the beauty and 
truth of his creation. Here also dwells Tennyson, whose 
heart beats in unison with the infinite ; whose words, like 
his spirit, are immortal. He still goes on with his grand 
work, and tho you hear his voice no more on earth, yet he 
is interested in mortal welfare, and his works here are 
filled with good will to men. 

Matthew Arnold, Taylor, Coleridge, all of the old 
world, as you call it, and Whittier, Lowell, Bryant, and 
Longfellow, foremost of America's poets, these men who 
drew their songs from nature's bosom, all of them are 
here. They are children of my native land. They live 
close to my heart. Our hearts beat as one. 

Such is my society, because by nature I am drawn there. 
When we come together, we read and hear the words of 
these great stars of the heavens of imagination. We feel 
as if, though we were thousands, we would still be as one. 
Coming together as sisters and brothers, we lose ourselves 
in the world of the ideal. Each voices the strongest emo- 
tions of the soul, and so strong becomes this attribute that 
even those with whom we come in contact upon earth give 
expression to our vibration to the extent that they are intel- 
lectually capable, be they consciously sensitive or not. 

From this you may form an idea of my social surround- 
ings. Now, why do I write thus? Merely to show 
you how nice things are here with us ? Certainly not ! My 
object is to teach this lesson that, though you may upon 
earth be like I was, a poor frontier girl, yet if you will 
develop within yourself a desire for all that is pure and 
beautiful, and hold with firm sincerity to those things 
which you believe to be right, then you will find your ideal 



70 BEYOND THE RIVER 

realized sooner or later. That is the way I have found it, 
so far, and this is the experience of all who have been here 
longer than I. 

Be your aspirations what they may, music, art, science, 
or anything that is lofty, you can develop to the highest if 
you persevere. And you can create around you conditions 
as near your ideal as it is possible to get ; for an ideal once 
attained is no longer an ideal. 

I do not wish to create the impression that art, literature, 
and abstract science are the only lofty development of the 
human soul, nor yet that they, alone and by themselves, 
are at all desirable, for they are purely a secondary ac- 
quirement. The first and foremost power of soul devel- 
opment is the power of useful service ; for without that 
there can be no art, music, or literature. 

Ampleus and Excelsior — still more, still higher. You 
can never develop to high spirituality unless you remain 
well balanced in all other faculties. Nervous disorders are 
not spirituality. By development I do not mean that it is 
needful to become spiritually perceptive — that is, medium- 
istic. Mediumship is as liable to become a thorn as a 
blossom. By development I mean simply the soul's awak- 
ening to a consciousness of its duties, and an appreciation 
of the beautiful in all things. 

I entered spirit life long before most of the poets I have 
mentioned came to us. It was during my later school days 
that I became acquainted with some of them. Others came 
to us just before I started my humanitarian work. And 
here, to emphasize the importance of early development, I 
wish to cite a few instances in point. Take, for instance, 
Whittier, who upon earth exclaimed: "How strange it 
seems, with so much gone of life and love, to still live on." 

He came here to find that there was not anything gone. 
And the poet of field and forest, of home and fireside, 



AMONG THE POETS 71 

grieved but a short time for those he left on earth, and 
soon took up his work with his fellows here, realizing that 
in the ultimate nature can sustain no loss. 

Longfellow, whose soul is portrayed in the soft, musical 
rhythm of Evangeline's story, which has brought about 
more good for the race among whom he lived than all the 
sermons of hundreds of ministers of ignorance. And 
Hiawatha's story of the Red Man, portraying how, even 
among the savage races, holy emotions and spiritual moni- 
tions are heard. He, too, though he came but lately, went 
on with his work, and again from his lips vibrate the words 
of tenderness and love. Sweetly he sings of sorrow and 
gladness, as he was wont to do when with you. Deeply he 
drank at the founts of Urd and Misnor, until his soul was 
filled with all the virile concepts of the primitive childhood 
of his race. 

These men live in the world of their ideal, and here they 
find that all can be realized. Now we can see them, as it 
were, young again, walking by the murmuring streams, 
standing by the vine-clad rocks, or seated under the elm 
trees near their dwellings, dreaming of love and purity, 
listening to the holiest impulses that come to the heart of 
man. 

But there is another among us, whose name I have not 
mentioned, who suffered untold agony while on earth. 
Misunderstood by his fellowmen, spurned by the one to 
whom he was united, He whose soul was immeasurably 
greater than those of his traducers. He came to us broken 
in spirit, forlorn in His sorrow, cut off from the world. 
Yes, from the cold, unfriendly world, ere His blossom was 
fully unfolded, He called forth a sigh of sadness from 
many of the great men of our community. Still, now He is 
contented, and when He speaks we are lifted with Him to 
the world where dwells His soul. No place can hold him. 



72 BEYOND THE RIVER 

His spirit grasps all there is of life, and expresses it in 
words that fall like snowflakes from a leaden sky. 

Such are the men of our circle in spirit land — men and 
women who hold thoughts like mine. Therefore am I 
found among the poets. 



WHAT IS HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER? 

Letter 7 

When in silence I sit alone, 

And dark as night life's ocean seems, 

My guardian angel brings from home 
My mother's spirit in my dreams. 

A mother's spirit, how sweet the thought! 
What solace it to my heart has brought. 
And now I feel it everywhere — 
A soulful growing, my mother's prayer. 

My mother's spirit, where'er she be, 

It fills my soul with true desire, 
Whether on earth or in heaven, she 

Keeps my feet from evil's mire. 

| HE home is the center of all true development, 
socially and spiritually. By the fireside the 
noblest thoughts are born. Here pure love climbs 
higher than anywhere else. Here joy is most complete. 
Take the home away from men and civilization falls. All 
the labor of science is based upon it. Poets draw from it 
the material for their grandest inspirations. Artists have 
immortalized their names by its portrayal. Home, the 
theme of song and story ! 

You ask the question, What is it that makes the home 
such a power? And I answer, The mother. Take from 
out the home the mother, and what is left? Where stays 
the family ? Like petals from a late autumn rose shaken 
by the northern blast, one by one they fall ; oftentimes 
caught by the raging winds they are scattered far and 
wide. That is so with a family from which the mother is 
taken ; for she is the center of unity. Around her all 

73 




74 BEYOND THE RIVER 

cluster. Her love binds them together and protects them 
as the leaves protect the fruit. Such is home with you and 
with us. 

The mother remains the center of the home circle until 
the time that her children shall have their ideal. Then her 
responsibility ceases, they having become perfected indi- 
viduals. And as it sometimes happens that the mother is 
called higher early, in that case the children are cared for. 

If the mother was united to her soul mate upon earth, 
both stay in the home. Even if they were not soul mates, 
but lived harmoniously, they do not separate even here, 
unless by natural causes. 

Those upon earth who carry this teaching to an ignorant 
extreme, and hope to embrace their real other self as soon 
as they arrive here, may make the mistake of their life, 
and awaken to the fact that they will have to wait until 
they are morally and intellectually fitted for the change, 
as natural law attracts the father to the children as well as 
the mother. 

So you can readily see the justice of nature. For in- 
stance, the father has been faithless or otherwise corrupt, 
and has been brutal toward his wife, he, in consequence, 
cannot rise to the level that she attains, but gravitates to 
his own kind. If, then, he sees the error of his ways and 
longs for his family, he can reach them only by purifying 
himself. It is so with the wayward son or mother as well. 
And here we come face to face with a sad truth, for, if the 
mother was immoral, she draws her children to her in the 
realm of the vicious. In the lower spheres there is no 
joining of soul mates, for it is apparent that they are not 
fitted for that state. The mother guards the children, 
those that are single, until they also are joined to their 
proper mates, after which she soon finds her coequal, if 
she has not already done so, and then goes on to a more 



WHAT IS HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER? 75 

perfect plane of existence. So far I have given an out- 
line of the laws that govern our family life, so that there 
may be no further misunderstanding about these things, 
among readers of spiritual literature at least. 

Mother has remained the center of our home from the 
time of our arrival here, and will so remain till the time 
that I will be perfected. In this law is found the beauty of 
spirit existence. In it is illustrated the wondrous depth 
of parental love, and this law brings to earth the 
great truth that love is immortal. We live in peace and 
harmony, each striving to make life pleasant. Indeed, we 
share each others joys and sorrows. 

On returning from a mission to earth, or a distant part 
of our own realm, what would my home-coming be, though 
I returned to a place of the greatest splendor, if there I 
found only the furniture, the pictures, the books, and other 
luxuries ? It would be cold, cold indeed. But instead, I 
return to a home that bears all the marks of genuine con- 
tentment, where neither wealth nor want is known. Here 
I come, tired with labor and care, and am met by the 
smiling face of my mother. And thus with her love our 
plain surroundings blossom like summer flowers. In short 
the mother is the unit of the home, and without her, exist- 
ence for the child would be as meaningless as it is upon 
earth. 

Think of the penalty nature imposes upon those who go 
through the world childless and alone ; while they that rear 
children on earth come to us supported and strengthened 
by the magnetism of their dear ones, and at once set to 
work to prepare a new home. If they have children who 
went before, they are met by them on their arrival, and 
together they work for the good of those who are left on 
earth. 

But take, for instance, a person who wantonly goes 



y6 BEYOND THE RIVER 

through life alone. He has violated a law in nature, and 
nature has no forgiveness for an offense against its great- 
est gift. Each person should rear upon earth a home, and 
live to the height of nature's intention, ruled by an adequate 
exercise of reason. In proportion that he develops a home 
ideal on earth will he be able to perfect that ideal with us. 

There is no more powerful term on earth or in heaven 
than the word Home. Persons born in the better strata 
of life remember days gone by when by the fireside of the 
old home all was happiness. And those who were unfor- 
tunate long that it were so with them. All will here find 
the reward in accordance with their development. Those 
who had a home on earth will have it here. Those who 
were homeless and alone have to gradually develop into a 
state of perfection. By homeless I mean those who were 
cast off — children of misfortune — although, if they build 
ideals upon earth, they will find their place accordingly. 

Those who had childhood homes but went through earth 
life unmated gravitate to their parents, and stay with them 
until finally perfected. Those who precede their parents 
into the spirit realms gravitate to such spirits to whom 
they are by nature most attracted. It therefore sometimes 
happens that even parents lose a child simply because 
some other has a stronger spiritual claim ; not necessarily 
the blood, but the spiritual parenthood draws the immortal 
to its own. 

Therefore, build for yourselves homes on earth, and the 
joys thereof shall cling to you into the eons of eternity, and 
ever shall you realize the depth of meaning in the question : 
"What Is Home Without a Mother ?" It cannot be. 




WHEN YOU COME HOME 

Letter 8 

VERYONE who travels upon earth for a longer 
or shorter distance is familiar with that peculiar 
sensation which creates within the soul a longing 
for home, or at least to know how things are at home. 
This feeling we call homesickness, on earth, and it is felt 
just in proportion that the individual is influenced by it. 

If he have no home, the longing still burns, and it pulls 
him hither and thither, seeking rest, comfort, and home. 
It is also exemplified in the salmon struggling upstream 
to the waters of their nativity ; or as the homer pigeon 
cleaves the ether sea for thousands of miles to its parental 
nest. This is not only a natural law, but its influence 
blends into the world of spirit as the golden dawn blends 
into the morning skies. 

The same condition prevails here — a longing for home. 
A desire for a definite place in the world is a fixed attribute 
of nearly all conscious life. Many who are as yet incased 
in matter begin to feel a longing for that other home, be- 
yond their mortal ken, where they may be sure that there 
is a new life before them. 

Holding this thought in mind, I will try to give an idea 
of what you (L. P.) may expect upon your arrival in spirit 
land, as for convenience we will call it. I write now of one 
particular case, and from that the general public may infer 
that, though each case slightly differs as to particulars, in 
general all will experience essentially the same condition. 

This narrative in a sense is personal, and similar expe- 
riences await each and every one of high ideals, regardless 
of belief or creed. All who have dear ones here will be 
met and led to their respective abodes, to be strengthened 
and instructed in the ways of spirit life. 

77 



y8 BEYOND THE RIVER 

You may think it strange that we should undertake to 
foretell the circumstances and conditions you will find 
upon your arrival here. But we are in a happy position 
to do this, however, as there is no great distance, reckoned 
spiritually, between our home and that of your parents. 
Distance here, like many other things, is determined by 
the bond of attraction between the inhabitants of places. 

Upon leaving the earth, you will rise to our sphere. 
Very likely you will be accompanied by your parents, who 
have resided here for many years. As you will not be 
drawn by any closer blood relative — that is, children of 
your own — you will first be drawn to the next closest. 
Therefore, permit us to give you a picture of their sur- 
roundings, as we have those of our own, that you may have 
an idea how they fared in their journey upward, and where 
they find themselves now. 

The home of your parents is on the outskirts of the 
valley among the lower foothills of a mountain range, at 
the base of which is the academy of science. Going to the 
academy by the main road, and just before leaving the 
valley, we come to a path that leads to the right. Follow- 
ing this are heavy forest covered hills, traversed 
by the above-described stream. Upon both of its banks 
may be seen houses of various sizes surrounded by gardens 
and orchards. 

Upon the gently rippling water may be seen boats and 
yachts, occupied by happy people. Following up the 
stream, we arrive at the other end of this beautiful cove, 
and there find that the hills rise abruptly, forming cliffs 
and crags upon which, here and there, a scrubby pine has 
found root. From out the crevices of the rocks flows the 
beautifully clear water which helps to form the stream that 
flows down the valley. 

At the foot of these clifflike hills, among the tall pine 



WHEN YOU COME HOME 79 

and cedar trees, we come to a neat, well-constructed dwell- 
ing. About it everything impresses one with an idea of 
system and order. The garden, lawn, and buildings for 
domestic fowls betray the system of well-studied plan and 
arrangement. 

We entered the yard, and found the owner seated be- 
neath one of the shade trees that surround the house. He 
is a man of middle age, and arrived here long before his 
soul was completely developed in the physical form. He 
rises, greets his visitor in a cordial way, and has the happy 
faculty about him that makes you feel at home. He de- 
lights in telling of his adventures in spirit life — of his 
planning, his study, and his hopes. Such was the state in 
which I found him when making my first visit, the purpose 
of which was to secure his cooperation in the work of our 
society. After I had made myself known, he expressed 
his surprise, but declined my invitation, saying: 

"No, I think it best not to trouble myself about earth. 
It has lost all interest for me, except for my boys, and they 
know the truth, so I had better busy myself here, so as to 
make happy their home-coming. No, except for my chil- 
dren, I have but little to draw me back to the world. I left 
it when young, went to where my race gravitate and strug- 
gled along for a while, watching the movements of those 
who were dear to me. 

"I could not rest upon the spiritual plane of my country- 
men. We differed in opinion on many things, and it was 
hard for me to understand their movements upon earth or 
here. Most of them hold simply to literal form and estab- 
lished status, with but little idea of advancement. There- 
fore, I kept close to my family, created in them the same 
restless feeling that I had, and influenced their material 
surroundings until they finally left the home country and 
settled in America. I moved with them, and when I as- 



8o BEYOND THE RIVER 

cended from there I found that spiritually I was a stranger 
in a strange land. But things here came nearer to my lik- 
ing. I roamed about for some time, until finally I came to 
this valley and settled. I then studied the customs and 
habits of the people, and finally became rested and sat- 
isfied. 

"For some unaccountable reason," he continued, "I 
gravitated to an entirely different plane of action than did 
my ancestors, so that I found myself alone. I guess I must 
have been the odd one. Yes, I was alone, while my daugh- 
ter had gravitated to my relatives. 1 When I got settled, I 
went over to the — oh, the school, saw the head teacher 
(Solon), and got his advice upon the subject. I wanted 
to see my people, and have my child with me in my new 
home. He told me how it would be possible to come into 
speedy contact with them. I started right off, acted ac- 
cording to instructions, and sure enough landed in the 
very midst of them. Then there was general rejoicing; 
but when I finally unfolded my purpose things changed a 
little. 

"I was yet ignorant of the working of natural law, in 
cases of this kind, and was about to employ earthly means, 
when the thing practically solved itself. And now, though 
we are apparently far apart, we come and go with com- 
parative ease, and I am now happy, having my child 
with me. 

"This was quite a long time ago. Since then we have 
improved this place and made it look more like home, and 
we have improved ourselves intellectua 1 ly also. When I 
had my child with me, my nature was better satisfied, you 
know. I had something to labor and to care for. You 
cannot imagine the loneliness of a wanderer in spiritland. 



1 She had passed over some time ahead of him. — L. P. 



WHEN YOU COME HOME 8l 

However, after we got settled, and the little one was placed 
in school and doing well, time went very fast with me. 

"I constructed all these buildings, gathered domestic 
fowls, and inclosed the pond in the rear of yonder fence. 
I made these paths and cared for all these things. It kept 
me busy — so busy that at times I almost forgot about earth, 
as well as my countrymen in spiritland, who live far away 
and move in different grooves of thought. 

"I became interested in the social affairs of this country. 
Social affairs here correspond to politics upon earth. We 
have here no politics, each being a law unto himself and 
living up to the state of development that this plane repre- 
sents. 

"So time passed on until suddenly I became aware of a. 
desire to visit the earth. On leaving this realm, I was 
drawn ever faster and faster earthward by some subtle, 
magnetic force. I understood that my wife must be very 
ill or out of order in some way. Finally I arrived at her 
bedside, but of course unable to make my presence known. 
I saw, however, that the change was close at hand. I 
waited alone until the arrival of my daughter. She had 
received the same call and had come to be of assistance. 

"You may think it strange that I had not taken her with 
me, but I was not aware of the seriousness of the case, and 
I would rather, if possible, hide from her the fact that 
mother suffered. Still a little human weakness, you see. 
We saw mother and the boys, but no one recognized us. 
We waited until the cord loosened and the body emitted 
the soul. 

"As she raised out of her material form, she seemed to 
be conscious of her surroundings, but spiritual attraction 
soon broke the last cord and she mounted upward, we 
following by her side. 

"Soon we arrived at home, and after having placed her 



82 BEYOND THE RIVER 

in bed we made further preparation for her comfort. Of 
course, we knew not how long her forming sleep would 
last, so that we had to keep a close watch for the reawak- 
ening. 1 

"Her illness, however, had thoroughly exhausted her, 
and it was some time before she regained consciousness. 
In the meantime we had made her surroundings as near 
like those she enjoyed on earth as possible. So well did 
we succeed in this that at first she was not aware of the 
actual change. But when I entered and called her by 
name, you can imagine her surprise. What further can 
I say ? She gained in strength very rapidly, and soon was 
able to walk about. 

"This, however, was long ago. Since then we have 
lived in perfect happiness, waiting for the boys to come. 
Yes," said he, after a moment's pause, "they will have a 
great advantage over what I had. Nature sent me to pre- 
pare the way. And now you tell me that you also wait. 
Well, many of us have waited and toiled a long time, but 
when it arrives the past soon fades from the memory. 
Let us be patient. It is good that here our permanent 
choice is fixed by nature, so that there can be no further 
mistake. 

"My folks are away at present or you could have a talk 
with them also. I think, however, that they will soon 



1 The forming sleep is a lethargic period thru which the spirit 
body passes upon its arrival here. It is caused by the inability 
of the soul to handle the spirit envelope apart from its physical 
body. This forming sleep lasts from an hour to as long as forty- 
years, according to the spiritual status of the individual. In old 
people, it is usually short, and in old people of high spiritual 
unfoldment it is often hardly noticeable, while in young people 
it is longer, according to the development or lack of development 
of the ego. 



WHEN YOU COME HOME 83 

return. Would you like to come in and wait? I should 
be pleased to have you see them." 

I answered in the affirmative, happy to seize the oppor- 
tunity. We had studied at the same school, under the same 
teacher, and though I had never met the mother, I felt that 
our mutual associations gave me a quasi acquaintance with 
her. 

He escorted me into a fair-sized parlor, neatly furnished 
and decorated. Upon the walls were three large paintings, 
executed with consummate skill. They depict the heroic 
deeds of Norsemen in ancient times, some smaller ones of 
Norway's rugged coast, and four portraits of spirit beings. 

These portraits were not engraved upon the wall, but 
were upon canvas and neatly framed, one of which at- 
tracted my attention. It was the portrait of a child, young 
and beautiful. I asked who she was, for I could see that 
she was not his own child. 

"Ah," said he, "it is the baby of my oldest son. Poor 
thing ! She had a short stay on earth. She is doing well, 
but of course carries some of the weaknesses due to a lack 
of mortal development." Then he explained her coming 
and how she was cared for. In the course of his remarks 
he said: 

"It was indeed pathetic. She was so young, and her loss 
was felt intently. But her coming to us has given an 
added touch to our home, for after all it is not so much 
the old folks as it is the little ones that make the home life 
beautiful and real. And now, when they are about me, it 
gives the same satisfaction that a true father feels on 
earth when surrounded by his little ones. 

"Then there is the joy of knowing that there can be no 
more separation that will leave our dear ones in want. 
Here we think of the happy time when all shall be together 
again. I have already made plans to enlarge my house for 



8 4 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



their reception. Of course, one is a father and will soon 
erect a home for his family. But the other will stay with 
us for some time, until he, too, is ready to be perfected." 

The mother and the two girls now returned, and the 
father stepped to the door and beckoned them in. I was 
introduced, after which he made known the relation I bear 
to the family, a fact which pleased them greatly. 

We now resumed the conversation along general lines, 
speaking mostly about the different races of men, and how 
each race will make for itself surroundings according to 
its individuality. I again led up to the necessity of work- 
ing to raise humanity to a higher level. With this, how- 
ever, I could make no impression on the father of the 
house. He answered by saying : 

"Yes, that is very good for those so adapted. I, how- 
ever, am done with it all. I do not keep posted on material 
affairs, so would be of no material assistance ; neither do 
they look for it. One thing I would like to have you do for 
me, however, and that is, if you ever find a way by which 
you can satisfactorily communicate with the boys, tell them 
that they will find a home with an open door and parents 
with extended arms ready to receive them. Tell them that, 
though I was cut away early, and thus could give them no 
support physically, I have tried to replace that sad misfor- 
tune by preparing for their homecoming." 

The mother now invited us into the dining room, where 
we had a light repast, while I told them that I had an 
efficient instrument through whom I would give this nar- 
rative to their children. 

We next went and viewed the grounds, the girls taking 
special delight in showing the beauty and variety of their 
flowers. After spending the greater part of the day with 
them, I returned home, determined to give this letter as a 
Christmas gift to our dear ones on earth. 



HEAVEN A HOME FOR THE HOMELESS 
Letter 9 



NE day as I was wandering about in the meadows, 
fresh with morning dew, and studded with blos- 
soms white and golden, I suddenly felt a desire to 
visit the rustic woodland home of my friend the hermit. 
Why such a thought should enter my mind was beyond 
me. But as it is always best to heed one's impressions, I 
started, confident that he wished to see me on important 
business, although I had no idea what it might be. 

With this thought in mind, I crossed the stream that 
separates the meadow from the forest, and as it was no 
great distance I walked leisurely. This forest path was 
lined on either side with large trees, and banks of the most 
fragrant blossoms, the morning dew dripping from the 
leaves, accentuated the beauty and freshness of the 
flowers. 

Birds twittered and poured forth their songs of gladness. 
In fact, the scene impressed me to such an extent that I 
almost forgot my original desire. 

In a short time I arrived at the home of my friend and 
stopped for a moment under a spreading elm. I felt silly, 
and hardly knew what excuse to make for my visit, though 
feeling sure of a welcome, no matter when I came. I 
rapped on the door, but to my surprise there was no one 
at home. I lingered about the place a short time, then 
concluded to walk down the path toward grandfather's 
house, to see how he and Aunt Esther were progressing. 
But instead of taking the path following the brooklet, as 
was my custom, I decided to take the mountain road until 
out of the forest, then go down the valley to the park, 

85 



S6 BEYOND THE RIVER 

which is just at the rear of his home. Emerging from the 
woods ,1 looked upon as beautiful a scene as nature affords 
anywhere. 

Standing in the shadow of the woodland kings, before 
me lay the open country, dotted with houses and checkered 
with fields green, blue, and golden. Across the open 
country in the distance I could see the timber on the other 
side of the valley, a dark green band against the alabaster 
summits of the mountains. The breath of peace and con- 
tentment reigned everywhere. 

To the left was the park, its giant trees and the large 
auditorium plainly to be seen in the distance. Between 
me and it there was a large tract of grazing land, where 
ranged wild and domestic animals of herbivorous habits. 
Animals destructive to life upon earth cannot come up to 
us. Neither can the low and vicious among the human 
family. Here we are free from all such evils, which must 
be outgrown and overcome on the lower planes of spirit ; 
for unfortunately very few, indeed, succeed in so doing 
under the vicious system prevailing upon the earth plane. 

Taking the entire human race into consideration, we 
have taken the highest possible step, due to purity of life 
and high aspiration. But there are millions who only step 
out upon the animal or lower plane of spirit. 

Carnivorous habits breed viciousness. Vegetarian 
habits cultivate mildness of spirit. We do not mean meek- 
ness. The meek are trampled under foot upon earth, and 
their souls become dwarfed and degraded, until they float 
through existence as leaves blown by the autumn winds. 
We mean the great, noble, and heroic souls who climb 
upward on their own merit, with love and tenderness for 
all and malice toward none. 

Therefore, I say that the innocent fawn playing in 
earth's thick jungles or upon her barren crags, caring only 



HEAVEN A HOME FOR THE HOMELESS 87 

for itself and harming none, is purer in spirit than the 
doctor of divinity who will shoot it down with hellish de- 
light. Therefore they come to us, together with some of 
the horses, cattle, and other domestic animals that fulfill 
their growth upon earth. 

(You do not realize the terrific psychic vibrations that 
are set up by the storm of destruction caused in your 
slaughter houses. What a deluge of undeveloped life you 
pour forth to mix in your atmosphere, causing your unde- 
veloped mental phenomena of crime and insanity, injustice, 
and avarice. Slaughter of animals and human beings fills 
the earth atmosphere with thoughts of vengeance — the 
natural thought of unripe souls, animal as well as human.) 

I paused for a moment to admire the scene before me. 
Lovely it was indeed. Creation's beauty unfolded itself 
as the pages of a magic book in the hands of a wizard. 
Looking over the scene, I exclaimed: "All nature is 
song ! Why should not I sing ? I then left the mountain 
road and followed the path leading to the park. This path 
meanders through the meadows across many tiny streams, 
and between ponds and lakelets surrounded by tall grass 
and rushes. Flocks of ducks swarmed the air, and wild 
geese flew back and forth between the various bodies of 
water. Everywhere was life in abundance. 

While walking along (for remember that spirits fly not, 
and that we are just as much bound to our plane as you 
are to yours, I drew near to a growth of water-willow 
trees upon the bank of a streamlet. The earth around 
them was covered with young, sweet grass, and sprinkled 
with a variety of buttercups and daisies. It looked so 
attractive that I felt a desire to see the other side of the 
group. 

As I did so, I was surprised to see two lambs sleeping 
in the sunlight. They looked very natural, eyes closed, 



88 BEYOND THE RIVER 

ears drooping, and noses touching the ground. Such a 
picture ; I exclaimed : "Innocence ! Innocence ! How 
sweet is thy presence !" (Ah, world ! If you would cease 
to confound ignorance with innocence, how much nearer 
you would be to us I Instead of being ignorant of life and 
its beauties, of love and its duties, of honor and its re- 
sponsibilities, you would be innocent of crime, of decep- 
tion, of faithlessness, of hate and blood. How much 
happier you would be, if only you were innocent ! ) Again 
I looked at them. One had apparently been awakened by 
my movements and had arisen. It was stretching itself as 
if tired, then looking curiously at me as if in reproach 
for having disturbed it, it again lay down. 

I was about to leave the scene, when my attention was 
attracted to an object that looked like a person seated at 
the further end of the group. How could I have over- 
looked it, and who could it be? Of course, I had lived 
here a long time and knew most of the people around us. 
Perhaps it was a new arrival to our world. That seemed 
to be the natural explanation as it suggested itself to my 
mind. It probably was some homeless, friendless soul 
that had been wafted into eternity by the glad hand of 
old mother earth, and on approaching nearer I saw that 
my conclusion was correct. 

The person was a girl perhaps sixteen years of age, but 
imperfectly developed and plainly showing every mark of 
ignorance and toil. Her hair, a rich blond, hung loosely 
about her shoulders. Her eyes were swollen with tears, 
and her face was haggard and pale. In a word, she looked 
the picture of misery. She was seated upon the bank of 
the ditch-like little stream where the surrounding willows 
grew, her feet dangling above the water and hand buried 
in the grass by her side. She seemed dazed, and evidently 
had just awakened from her forming sleep. 



HEAVEN A HOME FOR THE HOMELESS 89 

Now, you may wish to learn what becomes of the home- 
less and friendless souls who are so fortunate as to reach 
our plane of unfoldment. Upon their awakening, they 
generally find themselves alone. But invariably they re- 
ceive every needed help from the first person who discov- 
ers them. Thank heaven there is no money here, which 
closes the hearts of those who have it, so that they will 
not aid, and those who do not have it cannot aid. No, 
there are no such problems here. 

I approached and gently placed my hand upon her 
shoulder. She looked up and, catching my eye, immedi- 
ately lowered her head. "Where do you live ?" I asked. 

"I have no home, ma'am," was her reply. 

"But where do you stay? Can you tell me that?" I 
continued. 

"I herd sheep for Mr. Moose, in the hills. I felt very 
sick this morning, but he said he couldn't afford to keep 
sick people, and so I had to go out. It was so cold, miss, 
and the sheep kept a-runnin' and a-runnin*. Soon I fell 
and lay for a time. 

"One old ewe stayed behind with her lambs. They were 
cold, too, very cold. I covered them with my jacket to 
keep them warm. The sheep were now gone out of sight 
over the hill, and the rain was turning to ice, miss, and 
sleet, too. I kept my lambs close to me, and tried to get 
up, but I couldn't. I didn't mean to let the sheep run 
away. Soon the cold left me. I became hot, and could 
see nothin'. I could only hear the wind howl and feel 
my clothes soaked with water. Then I fell asleep and 
dreamed, then knew no more. Then I felt myself lifted 
up and came to myself. I saw Mr. Moose bending over 
me. I could only say: 'Don't hurt me!' I was sick, 
sure, miss. Then he said : 

"Why didn't you leave those lambs with the ewe? 



90 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



Now she won't own them, and they will have to be killed. 
Ah, but you're a smart un, you are.' 

"He said some more, miss, but I forgot it. Then I 
went to sleep again, and when I awoke the sun was 
a-shinin' ; I was here. I must have been left here. Don't 
know where I am. Don't know this pasture. Don't know 
where the sheep are. Oh, oh!" she sobbed, "I am so 
afraid to go back to Mr. Moose. What will he say ?" 

By this time I had knelt beside her and, gently arranging 
her hair, said : "Dear one, do not think about him. He 
will not find you here." 

"But, but, the sheep," she stammered. 

"Never mind the sheep, they will be all right," I an- 
swered. 

"What is your name ?" I asked. 

"Liz, yes, Liz they call me," she answered. Then slowly 
turning to me, she asked. 

"Why do you ask all these questions ?" 

Placing my arm around her, I said: "Because I love 
you, and will bring you to true friends, where Mr. Moose 
cannot come until he shall have learned to take his gar- 
ments and shield the innocent. No, child, you shall not 
see him again until he is poor, like you, and you can help 
him." I drew her to me until she resisted no more and fell 
back into my arms. 

Then I asked if she would like to know where we were, 
and she answered, "Yes." Looking into her clear blue 
eyes, which for the first time drank at the fount of love, I 
said: 

"My dear child, you are now in the realm called heaven." 
She gave a start, then said : 

"Guess I can find work here." 

"Ah, yes, you can. But come now, we will not speak 
about that. First we will find you a home and happiness." 



HEAVEN A HOME FOR THE HOMELESS 91 

While I was speaking, one of the lambs came and sniffed 
at her elbow. With a start, she drew herself together, 
took it into her arms, and hugged it to her breast. Then 
looking at me with a smile, she said : 

"Can I keep these now, or do they belong to Mr. 
Moose?" 

"They belong to no one, dear. If you want them as 
companions, it is well. You may care for them," said I. 
"But now, let us go, for I know you are weary." 

She arose, picked up one of her pets, and asked me to 
take the other. We went straight toward the park, and 
from there down the hill to grandfather's home. We 
found him and his friend walking in the garden. Around 
the garden were the stately forest trees, among which 
murmured the brook. As we entered, grandfather turned 
and saw us, exclaiming as he did so : 

"Bless my soul, child! So thou hast come to see me. 
Well, well ! And who mayest thou have with thee ?" 

Then said I : "Grandpa, let us put her to rest. She has 
just come to us." 

"Verily, verily, this shall be done." Then seeing the 
lambs which we had placed upon the ground, he continued : 
"And have these come with thee from yonder world? 
Come, come child, come George, come all, and let us spread 
a feast unto the Lord." 

We entered the house, and after my young friend had 
been introduced to Aunt Esther she bade us to be patient 
until a repast could be spread. Grandpa took the little 
stranger upon his knee, for she was but a mere child, and 
petted her kindly while she told him of her cruel treatment 
and death. 

In the meantime, I could see that his friend, George, 
who had also been a lonely and homeless child upon his 
arrival (he was found by grandpa, and has been with him 



9 2 BEYOND THE RIVER 

ever since), became very much interested and almost 
excited. Finally he said : 

"Child, you shall no longer be abused ; that is all past 
now. We shall make for you a home such as you have 
never known." 

"Yes, George," assented grandpa. "Verily, thou hast a 
noble chance. She shall not leave here, but be thy ward, 
and thou canst make her life what it ought to be, happy." 

By this time Aunt Esther had prepared food, and our 
little charge ate heartily. After the repast I kissed her 
goodbye and returned home, satisfied that I had helped 
this poor soul on the road to happiness. 




FRIENDS EVEN IN DEATH 

Letter 10 

"Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes, 

And fondly broods with miser care; 
Time but the impression deeper makes 
As streams their channels deeper wear." 

OETRY hovers near death until the end, then 
draws away in terror." The writer of these 
lines knew but little of the real nature of this 
wonderful transition or he would not have said these 
words. He would have said that poetry finds its highest 
expression in the liberation of the soul from mortal thral- 
dom. 

Death is a climax in our chain of existences. It is the 
dropping of the curtain on one scene in the eternal drama 
of evolution. Death the destroyer is also the liberator. 
Death the breaker is also the transformer. Death the 
taker of life is also the giver, and gives more abundantly 
than he takes. 

The music of the soul is profoundest silence to the mor- 
tal ear. The jar and clatter of earth's ponderous elements 
are deafening to the ear of the spirit. To commune with 
the infinite you must seek the mystic silence of your cham- 
ber, the deep shade of the forest, or out into the reaches of 
the desert. There, in the stillness of infinitude you may 
hear the grander harmony to wmich the mortal ear is deaf. 

This is the story of a lonely soul. Upon earth there was 
but one who had an unselfish interest in her. Together 
they had bloomed unseen in a wilderness of superstition 
and ignorance — in a spiritual graveyard where real truth 
had not a home. Here they grew as off-colored flowers in 

93 



94 BEYOND THE RIVER 

a deserted garden, happy in the sunshine of each other's 
smile; dreaming, planning, hoping, and loving the world 
for its own sake. 

Life they loved for its sweetness, which in fact they 
poured into it from the golden fountains of their youthful 
souls. Thus they were bathed in the sweet waters of love, 
when the reaper came and cut from the plant its blossom. 
Thus they were alive upon the banks of the stream of 
inspiration, when the gathering angel called and took her 
home. And as she was a lonely soul to the world, the 
world gave but a few flowers, shed a few common tears, 
and forgetfulness swallowed her memory for all but one. 

It is not our purpose to give the material details of this 
transition. Why should we open healing wounds afresh? 
Why paint pictures of lonely sadness filled with sobs, 
sighs and gloom ? Better be it that we tell the brighter side 
of the story. 

A few years ago, according to your reckoning of time, I 
had occasion to visit my grandfather, whose home is not 
very far from the place where I awoke to a new existence, 
under an ancient cypress-like tree. That tree is no more 
upon this plane. Its place is taken by a plot of verdant 
soft grass that came to us as the result of plowing a field 
upon earth. 

When going to my grandfather, I visit this place. It 
has for the spirit a charm somewhat like a childhood home. 
The life of the region has changed since last I saw it. 
Some of the trees are gone, some of the houses changed. 
The city seemed larger than now, which is not an actual 
fact, but a sense delusion, due to familiarity with the sight. 
For the rest, it was the same. At my feet still ripples the 
brook, and in the distance, looming majestic against a 
soft azure sky, were the alabaster summits of the moun- 
tains. 



FRIENDS EVEN IN DEATH 95 

When reaching the place, I sat down in the grass, toying 
idly with vines and flowers, as I dreamed a poet's dream 
of life and love, of sweet, sad loneliness, and of eager 
impatience — emotions which, by their contrast, make this 
life what it aright should be, a reality and not a dream. 

As thus I toyed and dreamed I noticed the forming of 
a group of fresh flowers at the edge of the grass plot in 
which I sat. There were a few violets and carnations, 
in the midst of which arose a stately hyacinth. The 
hyacinth grew and unfolded with extraordinary power 
and beauty. It had more than normal strength. By this 
I knew that it was sent upward on a mighty spiritual wave 
of love, agony and devotion. 

The spirit in which we do a thing affects the thing 
through which we do it, as well as the one we do it for. 
These flowers, fresh from earth, convinced me that I 
was in the presence of work to be done and must cease 
my dreaming. Too much dreaming is not good, even 
for us. 

I walked down through the woods by the side of the 
stream that flows into the gaseous sea, our mother 
world's envelope, until I came to the open road that leads 
to grandpa's house. As I approached the road, I noticed 
under a clump of undergrowth the form of a young 
woman, sleeping quietly on the soft grass. 

She was not an ordinary figure, but large in body and, 
as I was soon to learn, large in mind as well. Her head 
was graced with a heavy mass of jet-black hair. Her 
forehead was round and full. Her mouth was firm, yet 
not unkind. Her nose was delicately drawn, showing her 
nature to be extremely sensitive. Her figure was a trifle 
too long to be perfect, although this was not noticeable 
where she lay. 

My first impression was that she was a creature of con- 



96 BEYOND THE RIVER 

summate grace and development. I no longer marveled 
at the wondrous growth of the hyacinth, for surely a soul 
of such perfection could not but inspire devotion — could 
not but be productive of spiritual strength to anything that 
might be privileged to come into contact with her. She 
was a soul of such magnetism as is compelled to hold an 
opposite attraction with such power that not even the 
scythe of death could sever the cord. 

I knelt by her side and stroked her forehead, my heart 
aglow with admiration. Surely she is a queen among 
women. She awoke, and for the first time I gazed into the 
windows of that immortal temple. (In souls of this order 
lies the redemption of the world. And from them spring 
the ambrosia and nectar of heaven.) 

On awakening, she was not bewildered and understood 
what had taken place. Though she had given immortality 
but little thought, she was not frightened at her entry. In 
the depths of her unselfish soul, even in this hour, she 
forgot herself. Her mind went back to him who was yet 
upon earth, filled with overflowing despair. 

Her hope had always been to be his preserver, to care 
for him while he made his mark. She realized that neither 
a man nor a woman can climb high in life, unless lifted up 
by hands of love. (He who serves mankind has but little 
time to serve himself. She or he who takes part in the 
battle also has a part in the victory.) She was great 
enough to recognize his power. She was strong enough to 
know that a man does not need a woman to cling to him, 
but a companion to go with him. She feared but one thing, 
and that was that her passing might lose him the battle — 
might thwart the realization of their mutual aspiration. 
"Oh," said she, "if only I was acquainted, so that I could 
go about and prepare the way, for I see that should earth 
prove too small there is room in the Universe for our 



FRIENDS EVEN IN DEATH 97 

fondest dreams. There are unlimited possibilities among 
the stars." 

I asked if as yet she had met any of her relatives or 
friends, and what her mortal name might be. 

"I have not met anyone," was her answer. "You are the 
first. I found myself here, after leaving the world ; that 
is, a short distance up the road. I got up and walked until 
tired, then sat down in the grass, fell asleep, and knew no 
more until you awoke me." 

There was a radiance of magnetic power that drew me 
into her arms and she into mine. And as though prompted 
by a higher power, I knew that here was a link in a golden 
chain. I loved her by the divine right of spiritual harmony, 
and in that love I made her a part of our home circle, a 
member of our family, and so she shall remain until the 
root of the hyacinth shall come to place the plant in the 
garden of an independent home. 1 



1 Here I must help the reader to clearly understand. No, not 
even the cold, but nevertheless welcome, change called Death 
can separate us from our own. The bouquet described was placed 
on the casket in which the mortal remains of Alice was encased. 
Lucelia, having been in spirit land a long time, and being of high 
aspiration, had become so ethereal that she found it extremely 
difficult to project writing thru the heavier psychomotor organ- 
isms of our medium. So, what seemed as the saddest of all sad 
calamities, from our point of view, blossomed out into the frui- 
tion of greatest usefulness to us. Nature seemingly placed this 
noble girl right into the arms of Lucelia, as it also placed our 
physical medium into my hands. Being fresh from earth, Alice 
naturally retained memory of her language in use down here. 
When she became her normal self again, she also became the 
intermediary between Lucelia and us. Being, as yet, strong 
physically, and the engaged lover of our medium, she naturally 
and lovingly took her place by his side in this work. And thus 
thru the power of love the new link became welded into the 
golden chain, and thus made it possible to transmit the golden 
truths herein contained to a spiritually hungry but sadly mis- 
guided world. — L. P. 



98 



BEYOND THE RIVER 



She asked if what she had gone through was all there is 
of death. To which I answered that it was not death at 
all, but the beginning of a new life based upon the expe- 
riences of the old. 

After a slight outburst of grief, she literally pulled her- 
self together, and upon my invitation came with me. On 
the way it was necessary to stop several times to rest. 
We, like you, must take substance in order to exist. As 
you take material food for your material needs, so we 
must take food that fits our substance, differing from 
yours only in the degree of attenuation. When she saw the 
city, the meadows, the woodland, and mountains, her 
artistic soul began to glow. 

"What a land," said she, "in which to raise musicians, 
poets, and artists. Here we have landscapes that no 
artist could paint, unless he painted with the fire of inspira- 
tion and the colors of the dawn." 

On arriving at home, we vied with each other to make 
her comfortable and happy. In this Rosie, who has ex- 
ceptional musical ability, was especially successful. When 
I saw that she had been made as comfortable as possible, I 
hastened away to see Solon. After a short consultation 
with regard to this case, he instructed me to go to the place 
of her dismissal and see the boy [who subsequently became 
our medium. — L. P.] to whom she seemed to be united 
with the strongest possibilities, and do what I could to 
lighten his grief. 

I found him lying across the bed in a semi-trance condi- 
tion, and to my surprise I discovered that he had extraor- 
dinary psychomotor development, a condition of brain 
prerequisite to a high order of inspirational and auto- 
mative mediumship. 

I spoke to him, and he answered. He was not at this 
time objectively conscious, being almost completely sub- 



FRIENDS EVEN IN DEATH 99 

dued by the strain under which he had been laboring since 
his loss. This had, in a way, an advantageous side, as it 
rendered him negative to my impressions. Fortunate it 
was for us that he was not discovered and developed by 
other bands for purposes of good or ill. 

Finally returning to normal consciousness, he got up 
in a dazed condition, left his room, and went to the house 
of a friend, and I returned home, satisfied that I had 
found a jewel for the crown of our order. 

Shortly after my return home our new friend awoke. 
I expected another scene of grief, but no. She was too 
great, although the loneliness of her heart was written 
deeply in the lineaments of her face. She said but little, 
only appearing to be deeply anxious to learn the ways and 
laws governing our life and world. 

In the course of a few days her arrival became known, 
and friends came to visit the new member of our band. 
Quickly she gained their love by her open frankness and 
even temper. She was invited to grandpa's, and Mr. Car- 
lisle gave his usual good advice. 

Everyone took an unselfish interest in her, and noticing 
this she remarked that "most people were like the Indians. 
Death seemed to improve them." This bit of cynical 
humor, of course, caused a general laugh among the people 
assembled. Finally mother said : 

"Yes, child, it does. But we must be fitted on earth or 
we could not reach this realm. You must have had lofty 
thoughts, or you never could have come this far." 

Then she asked : "Do you suppose you are now in 
heaven ?" 

"Yes," interrupted Mr. Carlisle, "only we do not call 
it so, but strive to make life as near to a heavenly state as 
possible." 



IOO BEYOND THE RIVER 

After some time had elapsed, I asked if she would like 
to visit the poet, Edgar Allan Poe. 

"Ah," she exclaimed, "the author of The Raven.' How 
full of meaning that poem will be to the one I left." Tears 
came to her eyes, but choking down a sob she said : "It's 
no use ; it is all over now. I have played and lost 1" 

Mr. Carlisle took her hand as he said : "Dear girl, fear 
not. The hand you won is won forever. You may have 
to wait a long time, as you look upon it now. Nature will 
bring to you your own. Surely time will heal his wounds 
and yours, and you will go on with your work here, he 
with his work there." 

We did not like to tell her, just yet, that she could go 
back and see him, as it would only intensify her grief, so I 
said: 

"Come, dear, we will go and visit Mr. Poe." Then 
taking her hand and bidding goodbye to the folks, we 
started for the home of the poet. 

Our way led through the open fields, strewn with flowers 
of various colors and covered with soft, wavy grass. Here 
and there we saw flocks of sheep, goats, droves of cattle 
and horses. All these things we noticed and talked about. 
Coming to our destination, I asked if she could form a 
mental picture of his house. 

"Well," said she, "I think he would sit in the same kind 
of chamber as the one in which he wrote 'The Raven/ " 
Then she asked if he still pined for his lost Lenore. I had 
no chance to answer, for we were at the poet's door. 

We were admitted by a lady, who ushered us into the 
parlor, where Mr. Poe received us. He was seated at a 
large table upon which lay a number of books. He arose 
and greeted us kindly, after which I introduced my young 
friend, in whom he became deeply interested. 

Finally Mr. Poe proposed that she stay in the circle of 



FRIENDS EVEN IN DEATH ioi 

his friends, and learn from them the art of songcraft, a 
proposition which she promised carefully to consider. 
Said he : 

"The one you left must feel as I felt. He should write 
a sequel to The Raven/ " 

His wife who, in the meantime, had been speaking to 
me, now broke into their conversation with an invitation 
for us both to go to a meeting of poets and artists 
in the city. This we accepted, and taking our leave re- 
turned home. She there informed mother and sister that 
she was considering the proposition of taking up her 
studies with the poets and artists ; a thing much to be de- 
sired by us, for in her every action could be read the beauty 
of her soul. I asked her finally if she would like to return 
to earth for a visit, to which she replied : 

"If that is possible, yes, for of all the things I prize in 
life faithfulness is first, and to that I mean to cling even 
in death." 



AT THE TEMPLE OF ART 
Letter 11 



CROSS the meadows from our home are the sub- 
urbs of the great city. The name of this city we 
have so far withheld, for reasons of our own, but 
we will now disclose its name to you. We call it Ardis, a 
large and beautiful city. It is a city not of commerce, 
but of soul ; not of traffic, but of thought. It is a spirit 
city for the spirit beautiful. 

It is different from your earthly cities, as it is in reality 
a large aggregate of small towns or villages, in which 
nature and art walk side by side. Here, through rose 
embowered gardens, life is ever in full tide, as it courses 
through the giant trees and about the houses. The lawns 
of soft grass invite the soul to sweetest meditation. 

The city of Ardis proper is very, very ancient, having 
been built by the most evolved minds that flourished in 
early Indian civilization. These builders, however, have 
long since migrated higher, leaving their heritage to the 
sons of the white man. 

That is why the nucleus of that city is today as it was of 
yore, a walled stronghold, whose glittering ramparts, 
flecked here and there with sprays of ivy and other creep- 
ing vines, is preserved more as a relic of ancient psychol- 
ogy than as an element of utility. Here dwell some of the 
best talent earth has produced in the vocations of life. 
We find the poet, the sculptor, the painter, and the author ; 
also the inventor and reformer. In short, many of the 
leaders in the ranks of progress. They surround them- 
selves with the pure and the beautiful — with all that ap- 
peals to reason and imagination. This place becomes a 

102 



AT THE TEMPLE OF ART 



103 



heaven to them, because there is a chance to be active in 
the improvement of one's self. 

(Oh, inhabitants of earth! If you only would stretch 
forth your hands and labor, both physically and mentally, 
for purity, heaven's pure air would soon fill your nostrils, 
even on earth.) 

It is in one of those suburbs that we find a large private 
school of music, songcraft, and fine art, in which I have 
lately become interested, because our friend, Alice, of 
whom I have spoken in the previous letter, is there receiv- 
ing her training. It is the most suitable place for one of 
her temperament and aspiration. 

This school is on the very outskirts of the city ; occupy- 
ing the summit of a good-sized hill, which is covered from 
base to top with suitable vegetation, skillfully arranged by 
a trained horticulturist. Paths wind about amid beds of 
flowers. Fountains spray here and there upon the slopes. 
Statues of both men and beast adorn all the prominent 
places. Then last, but not least, is the school. 

It is quite a large building, shaped after the ancient 
Grecian Parthenon, with beautiful columns of a substance 
that would look to you like white marble, gracefully fluted 
and decorated with handsome capitals. The main walls 
are creamy white. 

I have to refer back to the columns that adorn this 
building. They are symbolic in their construction, blend- 
ing in their make-up the three great Grecian styles — ■ 
Ionic, for grace ; Corinthian, for beauty ; and Doric, for 
strength. The three concepts blended, being considered 
the summum bonum of art as it is known here. (Art 
sufTers sadly on earth, for it does not spring from the 
spontaneous fires of the soul, but is created today upon the 
earth plane solely to satisfy public demand, and the public 
demand is vulgar. Art, to be art, must lea the artist 



104 BEYOND THE RIVER 

free to listen to the call of his soul, not our soul, and 
create purity for love of creation. Then you will have art 
that is art indeed.) 

We approach the building by means of a flight of four 
steps, built out of the same substance as the pillars. These 
steps are decorated by four sets of statues, two of a kind, 
one on each side. At the base there are two lions, stand- 
ing forth majestically as an emblem of power. Next are 
two stately elks, which signify grace. Next we see two 
figures with the balance, the personification of Justice. 
Next and last are two wonderful statues of purest white. 
They represent Venus, the goddess of love. They each 
stand on a glittering orb, representing the planet Venus, 
the evening star. These are the most wonderful works of 
art. After passing these, we find ourselves among the 
pillars, then enter the building. 

The interior is divided into four auditoriums, two of 
which have beautiful stages, with highly decorated back- 
grounds. These are used for music, songcraft, and vocal 
art. The other two have large platforms upon which the 
masters do their work. The seats are built into the floor, 
which incline toward the platforms or stages. It is hewn 
out of white marble, and ornaments of the rarest quality 
abound. The interior and exterior rival each other in 
magnificence. 

(Here the average mortal is ready for a laugh, yes, ready 
to ridicule. You say that you can look into the sky and 
no such things are visible. Look at your fellowmen 
through an X-ray machine, and if it vibrate high enough, 
though they were covered with three hundred pounds of 
flesh, you would find them to be invisible, just as fully as 
we are. Why, then, are spirit landscapes, as well as spirit 
cities and spirit forms, invisible to you? The simple 
answer is that sunlight acts upon spirit substance to the 



AT THE TEMPLE OF ART 105 

mortal eye as does the X-ray machine upon concrete mat- 
ter. It is high time that the mortal world should learn 
these great yet simple truths.) 

Now resuming our description of the school. 

We next ascend a flight of steps and find ourselves on 
the upper floor. Here the rooms are large and well lighted. 
The walls are decorated with paintings and sculpture, sur- 
rounded by rich drapery. 

The students are seated in individual chairs, around 
long reading tables, in the center of which are shelves 
with all kinds of literature. Such are the study halls for 
the mental branches of the curriculum. 

In the art department the room in general is the same, 
except that there are no tables, each scholar having a chair 
and tripod upon which his canvas rests. In this way he 
pursues his work under the supervision of a competent 
teacher. 

The students of music occupy a study hall so much like 
the artist that for our present purpose it is needless to 
describe it in detail. I will only say that all branches of 
music are taught, from grand opera and symphony to the 
flute and guitar. 

I stated at the beginning of this letter that I was at- 
tracted to this school for the reason that my young friend, 
Alice, had decided to take up her course of study here. I 
will now give you an outline of her work. 

Shortly after her arrival, she decided to prepare for 
some field of usefulness, for here as upon earth we are 
influential only in the measure that we are useful. As you 
know, there were several of the great poets that took an 
interest in and gave her a place in the classes of the finer 
arts. That is why, today, she controls this medium for the 
purpose of giving poetry and romance. While, were I to 



106 BEYOND THE RIVER 

control him, I would work more along scientific and 
philanthropic lines. 

But the remark has been made that I came as a poetic 
influence. True, to some extent I naturally love the beauti- 
ful, the poetic and sweeter tones of existence. But my 
education was scientific and practical. The practical side 
of existence is not lost in the great change. 1 

Alice had studied with the poets at this school about one 
year, of your time, when I decided to visit her, so that I 
might see how she was progressing in her work. I felt 
certain that she was a bright student. With this object 
in view, I left home one morning and journeyed to the 
city, thence to the school. 

On entering the building, I asked an attendant where I 
might find Alice, and he answered : 

"At present, she is in the study room practicing art." 
Then indicating a flight of steps, he said : 

"This way, miss." 

He led the way to the art students' room and intro- 
duced me to the teacher, who called her. Seeing me, she 
fairly jumped (for as yet, she has all the impetuosity that 
characterized her in earth life), and said: 

"Good heavens! What brings you here?" Then we 
became lost in conversation. There was so much to say, 
so many things to ask about, that I will not bore you with a 
recital. 

While thus engaged, the school was dismissed and all 

1 Yes, this is true. I did make such a remark, quite a while 
before these letters were written. I have already stated that she 
used the vocal organs of the medium on whose center table I 
found the book of biographical sketches, and where, in another 
city, later on, I was also brought into contact with the automatic 
hand. Thru the lips of that medium her poetic words fell as 
softly as the snow-flakes from a leaden sky. But I did not at 
that time know who this pure soul was. — L. P. 



AT THE TEMPLE OF ART 



107 



went their way. After inspecting the building, and her 
work in its various branches of study, art, poetry, drama, 
and music, we called on the principal, who gave her leave 
of absence for a few days, a treat greatly appreciated. On 
leaving the school, I took her for a visit to the home of the 
poet, YYhittier, with whom we were both acquainted. 

He lives outside of the city, in a small but beautiful 
home. Everything about his place breathes the air of 
poetry and art. A kind of melancholy comes over a per- 
son when looking at this place, even from a distance. It 
is a small house, with vine-covered veranda and moss- 
covered roof, situated upon the bank of a murmuring 
stream, and shaded by massive oak trees, which keep the 
house in almost perpetual twilight. 

Back among the trees there is a thick undergrowth of 
profusely blossoming shrubbery, while some of the trees 
nearest the house are dressed in heavy grapevines. Di- 
rectly in front of the house, and along the path that leads 
to the main city road, there are rows of bushes irregularly 
arranged. In short, the house gives one the impression of 
a hermitage in the wilderness. 

Walking up the path towards the house, we found the 
old man seated under one of the spreading oaks reading 
a book. He arose, greeted us courteously, and invited us 
to enter the house. Inside everything was plain but cozy — 
just such a place as can inspire the Godlike simplicity 
which we find in all his work. He asked us to be seated, 
then resumed the conversation by telling us how he loved 
his work, and expressed the hope that in time we, too, 
might become masters of that sublime art. Said he: 

"Girls, you cannot imagine what it means to live the 
life of a poet unless you are such yourself. To me, the 
man is blind who does not look thru poet's eyes and see 
divinity everywhere. Common ears hear but common 



108 BEYOND THE RIVER 

sound. To the poet's ear all is music. His soul, un- 
bound, grasps far more of the beauties of the universe 
than he whose soul has not been touched by the wand of 
Orpheus. To him all things move and live with divine 
life, and reecho their existence in the world of his soul. 
The soft green, the hue of the flowers, the murmuring 
brooks, the humming birds, the mighty rivers, roaring 
cataracts, valleys, hills, mountains, caves, the infinity of 
space, the stars in all their luster, speak to the poet's soul — 
speak a language that is not to be spoken by mortal 
tongue ; for tongue nor pen can do it justice. 

It is the inner language the poet feels and expresses in 
the crude instrument of speech. Then he has to depend 
upon his readers to enter with him into the great sanctuary 
of nature and see, thru the ill-expressed words, the deeper 
and grander conception as it is felt by him who drinks 
direct from the fountain of inspiration. Yes, it is marvel- 
ous. Have you not found it so, Miss Alice ?" She 
answered : 

"I dare say I have. But to me they all appear with a 
definite meaning. I do not, so much as you, feel the beauty 
of land and water, sky and space. To me, rather, they 
symbolize human emotion, human passion. For instance, 
when I wander among the flowers which fill the air with 
their fragrance and gladden the eye with their soft beauty, 
I feel inwardly that they personify love, to me the high- 
est of all emotions. They vary in odor and color; still 
they produce, to my mind, a harmony sweet and melodious. 
Then I say to myself : 'Sweet and pure as are earth's blos- 
soms, so shall, ere long, her mortals be.' On the other 
hand, I stand by a great waterfall, or behold the fury of 
the elements, then I cannot help but think of its opposite — 
hate, force, and power. This calls to my imagination 
pictures of jealousy, hate, and strife, which hang upon 



AT THE TEMPLE OF ART 



109 



the walls of existence. These, of course, are the two 
extreme opposites. Every shade between them portrays 
different emotions." 

"Certainly, certainly, assented the old man. In method 
we all differ, yet in feeling we are one." 

For some time the conversation continued, until the 
time came to say farewell to our friend who had so pleas- 
antly entertained us, and together we returned to enjoy a 
few days' vacation at the quiet woodland home of our 
mother. 




OUR PURPOSE 

Letter 12 

N a few short letters, I have tried to give you a 
little insight into our mode of existence on our 
plane in spirit life. We have also faithfully en- 
deavored to give the connecting links that bind together 
our workers on earth, who work in harmony with our 
society. And tho as yet they are scattered and unac- 
quainted, we are succeeding in drawing them closer and 
closer together. We hope ere long to have several more 
mediums working along the same lines. 1 

Now at the close of this work I do not want to leave 
the impression that we wish to discredit the work of 
others, who may perhaps differ in the description and 
location of places. Remember that the native of Missis- 
sippi and the native of Alaska may both tell the truth, yet 
must necessarily describe very different scenes. And 
again, if my sister was to write from the same premise 
that I have, she would form for her mainstay the musical 
world, and would mention some of the giants in the field 
of music, as I have in poetry, literature, and science. If 
our youthful friend were to write, it would deal with 
poetry and nature. While if mother or grandfather were 
to write, they would deal with the quiet of home life. 

We hope the reader will remember that this description 
covers but a small part of the great spiritual realms ; that 
we have not tried to describe any other plane of develop- 
ment than our own. 



1 Yes, at her urge we crossed the country from Seattle to 
Boston to grasp the hand of that great soul, A. J. Davis. — L. P. 

110 



OUR PURPOSE III 

It is our object to labor for the betterment of the world, 
so as to prepare or, rather, help to prepare men, that they 
may be able to take the greatest possible step, from time 
into eternity. We mean to do all in our power to rob the 
grave of its terror, and bring to the world the knowledge 
that death places the soul but a pace further upon the road 
of existence. That the length of that pace, depends en- 
tirely upon how you prepare yourself upon earth, that 
nature is just and exacts no undue punishment, and that 
the Universe is governed by Law. We have tried to com- 
bine the scenes of our lives and the facts we have ascer- 
tained. This was our purpose, is and will be our purpose, 
forever. 

Such was my aspiration as I walked among the pines 
where now rest my remains, and it has clung to me until I 
found mortals who could make known my existence, to 
the echo of my soul, on earth, even until a faint re- 
semblance was drawn and placed before his eyes. Then 
I continued my labor until I got him in contact with honest 
instruments who could give expression to the truth, in a 
verbal way, and finally, I crowned my mission upon 
earth, by bringing into our circle one whose hand, whose 
voice, whose eye and ear, could be used in giving to the 
world the truth in all its simplicity. 

He (the medium) may rest assured that he shall find the 
hand of her (Alice) whom he caressed, ready to help and 
to strengthen him. To do this now and forever is our 
purpose. 

Beyond the River was originally given as a compli- 
mentary work to the people in whose home this medium 
was partially developed, and as a history to the person 
whose life, with mine, is one, so that he might know why 
the occurrences which took place in his life, and for which 
he could find no explanation, came about. In other words, 



112 BEYOND THE RIVER 

we desired to demonstrate to him the relation he bears to 
us and to our work. 

Further, we can say that, while thru the hand of this 
medium correspondence has been reduced to a degree of 
perfection hitherto seldom attained, we have succeeded in 
giving to the world what we have desired to give since the 
year 1882, A. D. Having accomplished that, we wish to 
.sign ourselves in full, so the world may know that these 
letters are not dreams of idle fancy, which ere long shall 
come to naught. Lucelia A. Lovejoy, 

Under the direction of Solon. 



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